


Shall We Dance, My Dear?

by Atomic_Muse



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Alternate Canon, Angst, Asexuality Spectrum, Blood, Character Death, Comfort, Deviates From Canon, Drinking, Drinking to Cope, Drugs, Eventual Soft Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), F/M, Fluff, Hurt, Intoxication, Magic, Possessive Behavior, Possible Triggering Content, Protective Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Romance, Slight Husk x Reader (comfort), Slow Build, Sybolism, Teasing, Trauma, Updates On Wednesday's/Thursday's, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:26:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 155,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25865101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atomic_Muse/pseuds/Atomic_Muse
Summary: You had been betrayed before but not like this your trust was practically non-existent to be completely betrayed by your kin was absolutely diabolical and yet death had never been more welcomed.Until you woke up in unfamiliar territory with absolutely no idea where you were, how you got there, or how to protect yourself you practically run into the arms of an irritated moth demon who in turn develops a soft spot for you instantly and takes back to the Happy Hotel. How would the rest of the residents take it? Would they like you? And more importantly, would you be able to trust again?(Editing complete updates to proceed as normal, thank you for your continued patients!)
Relationships: Alastor/reader Charlie/Vaggie
Comments: 70
Kudos: 77





	1. Where the HELL?!

**Author's Note:**

> Your lungs were burning but you were so happy that you were able to outrun those monsters...Running into someone hard you let out a deep oof.
> 
> "Hey watch it!" A velvety voice sounds, looking up you spot a girl with grey skin and white hair that covered one eye which had a bright pink X over it her other eye widens as she takes in your appearance and with a huff she holds out a single hand for you to take.

It's one thing to be betrayed by a friend but it's entirely different when you're betrayed by your family the people who are supposed to care for you the most, you thought it would be impossible for them to do it but apparently not. You just happened to be the weak link, the one that was holding them down. 

You were the youngest in the family and the only girl so when it came to strength you were the weakest. However, you had a lot more courage than your mother had before she died, she had passed when you were young. You’d lived with your father and three older brothers for years, they were like wolves, but Michael was different you got along with him much more than the other two, they didn’t care who they hurt. 

Being small and agile made you the fastest in your family, however, that doesn't mean you can run forever. You never realized that they would hunt you down like some kind of animal and then throw you in to your father’s toxic waste. You had no idea how much toxic waste could burn, your skin was tingling and you couldn't breathe. 

Your lungs were begging you to take a breath and that’s the thing you could only fight the feeling for so long your brain simply wouldn’t let you deprive yourself of oxygen no matter how aware you were that if you took a breath that’s not what you would get. _Help!_

You’re forced to take in a large breath... _death had never been more welcomed._

_Falling_. You were falling. Stifling air was breezing past you at an alarming rate and you couldn't bring yourself to open your eyes. You felt weightless until the moment you hit the ground. " _Oof!_ " Your back hit solid ground forcing a deep sound to escape your clenched teeth. 

Your ears felt clogged with the previously mentioned disgusting material as if you were underwater only thicker all sounds around you were warbled and distorted. _Breathe_! You suddenly sucked in a huge gulp of air. 

You cracked open a single eye while rubbing the other with the back of your hand, you let out a deep groan and a flash of green catches your eye for a brief moment. You move your hand away from your face, bracing yourself on the gravel-covered ground you lift yourself up to your feet looking down you notice your clothes or lack thereof. You were draped in an old battered t-shirt that barely covered the tops of your thighs, your feet and legs were bare. 

_Wait_. _Wait, wait, wait_. You look down, your feet were acid-washed green as were your legs, arms, oh no, you thought, eyes widening in horror, I'm freaking _green_! "This cannot be happening!" You grit through your teeth, I look like a knock off Shrek, you could almost laugh and you would have had you not been freaking the fuck out. 

Looking around you noticed that the place you had fallen wasn't exactly normal either. The sky was an overbearing red hue there was a pentagram in the sky in a slightly darker red shade. Looking down the whole place seemed like a run-down city. Creatures were wandering the filthy streets some of which resembled normal people and others that just... _didn't._

_Where the fuck?..._ Creatures were emerging from every dark corner looking ravenous, drool dripping from their hanging maws, they were unrecognizable and absolutely animalistic. You had dropped into an enclosed space the only way out was through a wall of monstrous-looking beings. 

You felt fear like a hot poker stab at your beating heart, which you were surprised you had, given that you were damn sure you had been killed by your family not moments ago. 

You clapped eyes with one of the monsters and you just knew that you were a target, _no...you were the meal._ You almost froze, your mind completely numbed, you were the prey again and having no idea what you were up against fighting simply wasn’t an option you turned and ran toward the nearest gap feeling a talon tear through your thigh. 

Letting out a pained yelp you don’t even bother to stop, as painful as it was, you had never run so fast in your life but at that moment, in a situation that you knew you would lose in, you sprinted as fast as you could down what you could only assume was a street. Shops lined both sides of the gritty pavement. You could hear them running after you, you just hoped that you were faster. 

You could feel your heart constrict in your chest, your lungs, as well as your thighs, were burning! You were so unbelievably tired and confused but you refused to slow down turning your head to take a peek behind you, you found that those things were nowhere to be seen you were so happy you could outrun them. 

You turned back around a little too late and you collided with someone else. "Hey watch it!" An irritated voice berated looking up you saw that the person you'd crashed into was a woman around your age you suspected. 

She had grey-ish skin and almost white hair with a pink bow tied in the back. A bright pink X covered one of her eyes, she looked positively steaming until she actually glimpsed you. She looked at your frazzled form and frowned "Are you new here or what?" She asked in confusion a frown forming deeply at the corners of her lips. 

She picked up the bag she had been holding, which surprisingly held normal groceries. You let out a nervous laugh "that depends where exactly is here?" You question back. 

Vaggie's head never moved so quickly as she shot you a horrified look. Well, it would explain your ragged appearance but a lot of the demons were ragged anyway. Most of which were living on the streets "oh so you are new, huh?" She says mostly to herself. 

Standing with her bag, everything put back in its place, she hugs her elbows for a minute looking back at you, she could tell that you were scared and confused not to mention you were barely clothed, maybe she'd been with Charlie for far too long but she just didn't have the heart to leave you there like that. Her expression softened as she held out an ashen grey hand "Come on, I help run a hotel nearby I'll get you a room" she offers pulling you to your feet. 

You could have _cried,_ you had never been so grateful in all your life; you nod your head "Thank you.” For the whole walk there, neither of you talked as awkward as it seemed it was calming and it gave you a chance to think. With so many questions running rampant inside your head, it was surprising that you hadn't developed a headache, yet. Where am I? Who is she? Where's this hotel? Why am I here? How did I get here? One stuck out amongst the rest, why did they do it? 

You started nervously chewing on your pointed orange nails as you neared a foreboding building, it stood tall above the rest but was worn down and _creepy._ Windows were shattered, the paint on the outside was peeling, the wooden deck leading up to the double doors looked as if it would give way under your weight alone. 

You spared a glance to the girl next to you, who breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the front doors as if the silence of your long walk had been just as heavy for her. You followed her up the creaky steps and through the hotel doors into an assault of noise. 

"Hey! Don't ya' dare hurt FAT NUGGETS!!" A voice screamed loudly followed by a very familiar oinking sound. The girl next to you sighed her shoulders visibly sagged in defeat as if she had been expecting this, you get the feeling that things like this happen often, there was a _pig_... 

You leaned in close to her "is that a real pig?" You asked pointing to the small pink dappled pig currently making its way to a man, with a less than welcoming grin stretched across his face. His teeth were jagged like that of a shark, he seemed to stick to a colour scheme red and black, he had small black antlers on his head. Overall _freaky._

The pale grey girl nods before clearing her throat all commotion seemed to halt, and suddenly you and your new... _friend?_ Were now the centre of attention all eyes in that room were now on the both of you. A sharp gasp resounded from the stairs before you were suddenly swept up in a bone-crushing hug and being twirled around in the arms of a blonde girl. 

When she pulled back you could see her face clearly, deathly pale with two red, pepperoni sized, spots on her cheeks that could be a permanent blush, but was really rubbing up against your _doll phobia_ , her eyes were wide and practically full of stars. She was rocking her outfit, white button-down shirt with black dress pants that had pink cuffs and black suspenders, with a little bow tie; her hair was pulled back slightly with a black scrunchy. "Vaggie, did you bring a guest?" She asked turning to the white-haired girl who had gone back to cradling her elbows, oh so that's her name, you stored that information for later. 

Vaggie nodded "She's new, she still doesn't know what's going on. I thought maybe you could break it to her nicely and all..." She trailed off before her mouth decided to run away with her. She smiled at Charlie happy to be back home but still weary of the Radio demon, she'd been keeping a close eye on him since he arrived and it made her uneasy to do the shopping trips while leaving Charlie here alone with him. Charlie nodded at her, a serious expression replaced her previously happy one "Right, I got it" she replied. 

You watched as Vaggie walked away through a different set of doors before a hand was placed on your shoulder lightly, you whipped your head around and was greeted by a sad smile "hey how are you doing?" She asked squeezing your shoulder lightly in comfort you smiled, you like this girl, just like Vaggie she seemed nice "I'm fine, a little confused" you replied before looking around at the dead silent room. 

Smiles, a weird arachnid, a small one-eyed girl, and some weird looking cat guy were staring at you. You slowly turn your head back to the blond in front of you before whispering "and maybe a little underdressed" as you start yanking your t-shirt down in order to get some form of dignity. You were in a room with what looked like more females than males but really, you’d rather not take any chances of exposure. 

She gasps "oh, of course, I have some clothes that'll fit you, come with me and I'll introduce to everyone else after I've explained everything." She replies grabbing one of your hands lightly and tugging you forward toward the stairs. You kept your eyes to the ground as you passed everyone a quiet, curious, chatter had started up behind you. 

You were lead through a maze of hallways and you just knew that you were going to get lost in this place a few times before getting used to it "I'm Charlie, by the way," the blonde said looking back at you with a shy smile before adding "sorry I only just realized I never introduced myself ha" she laughed nervously you smiled "I'm ____, it's nice to meet you" Charlie smiles "it's nice to meet you too." 

Charlie stops at an elaborately painted door it was very colourful in contrast to all of the red you'd seen; you could only assume Charlie herself had painted it. Opening the door, the first thing you’re greeted by is a huge double bed with two big windows on either side of it the curtains are drawn. 

To your left was the bathroom which was also quite big and clean, there was an adorable pink wooden vanity against the left wall of the room and a built-in closest on the right side. On top of one of the bedside tables was a modern-looking tv. 

Walking up to her closet she pulled the doors open and quickly rummaged around finding what you could only assume was an old top and an old pair of pants. Charlie turns to you handing you the clothes "why don't you get changed in the bathroom and I'll quickly dig out some socks and shoes" she suggests before turning around again. 

You nod slowly, heading to the bathroom you discard your old rag of a top and pull on the much less baggy one it was black and in a pink script were the words 'Happy Hotel Staff' on the back you quickly pulled on the black jeans and left the bathroom, old t-shirt in hand. 

Charlie was already waiting with a pair of cream socks and an old pair of trainers in her hands "Oh! Let me just bin that for you, hopefully, these should fit you, we can go clothes shopping tomorrow" she rushes giving you the socks and shoes and throwing away the old t-shit. 

You nodded again feeling slightly dizzy and a bit overwhelmed you slipped on both items and look up with a small smile "Charlie?" You say timidly Charlie looks at you as she pulls out a full-length mirror "Yeah?" She replies distractedly "where am I?" You finally ask hesitantly the full-length mirror is placed against the wall in front of you, you take no notice for the time being your attention is entirely focused on her, and Charlie sighs almost sadly "Hell" she replies in a small voice, shoulders hunched as if she were bracing for something. 

_Silence._ It was so damn quiet. Charlie turns around to see that your face had paled considerably, as green as your skin was it almost looked as if you had lost all colour, she felt so bad for you she couldn't imagine what it felt like to hear that, after growing up in hell nothing surprised her anymore but it continued to break her heart to see people like this. She walked over and gently sat next to you at the foot of the bed "hey it's okay" she said soothingly you take in a deep shaky breath before realising it. 

You bite your lip before replying "okay, so what... am I?" You questioned unsure on whether or not you wanted to know "a demon" Charlie replied knowing that beating around the bush would get you nowhere. 

You laughed at first until realization set in and memories started flooding back, your family had killed you. You felt sick you could almost feel bile coming up your throat, you closed your eyes and just hoped that the feeling would pass, after everything you had done for them, you had covered for them and yet, they had killed you. 

A sob escapes your throat and hot angry tears slip down your cheeks. Charlie didn't know what to say so instead she rubbed your back comfortingly and just let you cry it out she was sure that if you wanted to talk about it, you would have. Once you had stopped crying, you looked Charlie in the eyes and smiled "do you think I could stay here a while?" Charlie's eyes lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree "of course you can!" She replied happily. 

You finally summoned the courage to glance in the mirror in front of you first noticed that it was fucking solid gold and beautifully engraved at the top of the frame right in the centre was a green emerald. When you finally did look at your refection you almost did a double-take "what the ever-loving _fuck"_ you whispered. 

Your hair was bright orange on one side and bright yellow on the other with ombre bright green tips, your hair was also very long you were practically sat on it. Your skin, as previously mentioned, was an acid-washed green, your eyebrows were different colours one green the other yellow, you had bright green eyes and the sclera was yellow thankfully your pupils were normal. You had seen some unlucky enough to have very strangely shaped pupils. 

But what had caught your immediate attention were your fox ears and your foxtail you were surprised you hadn’t noticed them earlier, why the fuck... _what?!_ You panicked immediately jumping up from your seat you spun around wildly "why do I have a freaking tail!" You exclaimed. 

Charlie giggled before grabbing your elbows "It's okay, to be honest, you're one of the lucky ones you should see Husk and Angel Dust!" She laughed "speaking of if you're ready that is, we should go down there and introduce you to everyone, you can eat and I can tell a little about what I'm trying to do with this hotel," she said looking hopeful you smiled you just couldn't say no. You both left the room to navigate the maze back down to the lobby. 

The Lobby at this point was empty, looking around you find that most of the mess you had bypassed earlier was cleared away. Charlie sighs next to you breathing a silent _thank god_ before turning to you with a nervous smile she lets out a quiet laugh while rubbing the back of her neck "Uh they're uh-" she clears her throat before starting again "they're probably all in the kitchen, we're all usually eating by now" she explains before continuing down the stairs. 

You follow suit silently wondering what the others will be like. You suddenly feel nervous, what if they really don't like you? That'll make it much more difficult to stay here. 

You enter the doors on the left of the huge Lobby stairs, yep everyone was in there, the really tall arachnid was currently harassing the winged cat, the tiny cyclops with one eye was talking the non-existent ears off of the smiley weirdo and Vaggie was stood by the table glaring daggers at him until she noticed you and Charlie stood in the doorway. 

She immediately made her way over to you both stopping in front of Charlie she gently grabbed her by the elbows and kissed her cheek. You almost said _awh_ out loud but you held it in settling for a soft smile. Vaggie turns to you and whispers "hey feeling okay?" You were almost surprised that she asked, she didn't seem like the touchy-feely type you quickly nod your head and she smiles "if you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask me or Charlie, okay?" 

"Thank you" you whisper back she nods once Charlie clear's her throat and all of a sudden your heart is in yours, you felt like you were going to vomit, everyone turned to look at her as she spoke, "Okay everyone we have a new guest staying with us here at the hotel so I want you _all-"_ she gives and pointed look to the arachnid and Mr Smiley before continuing "-to be on your best behaviour and welcome her with open arms" she finishes with a big beaming smile, her positive energy was infectious, she walked over to sit at the huge round table with Vaggie they started their own conversation. 

You took a deep breath before looking around some of the others had gone back to their previous conversations of which you were glad but apparently the tiny Cyclops was anything but patient "Hi there, I'm Niffty" she rushes out holding up a hand for you to shake, you smile and shake her hand you don't get the chance to speak before she's talking again "what's your name? Do you know any guys that would be interested in staying here? I'm sorry that's rude..." she rambles on for a little and you're starting to find her adorable. 

You tell her your name and laugh when she got disappointed after you explained that you don't really know anyone else. She leads you to the table and sits in one of the seats next to yours which was way too big for her she starts pointing to the other three in the room "Okay so the winged cat over there is Husker, we call him Husk, he's super grumpy, the guy next to him-" you choked, your eyebrows flew upward you were afraid they would disappear in your hairline. 

The ‘ _guy’_ she was talking about had a fluffed bust tucked into a tight outfit, his white fur was adorned in pink speckles and pink lines, he had two sets of arms and legs for days, you look at Niffty in surprise "that's a guy!" You whisper in surprise she giggles before nodding enthusiastically "to be honest I thought he was a woman at first too, his name is Angel Dust." 

You turn your head toward the effeminate spider they guy was freakishly tall and yet looked way more...womanly than you had when you were alive “yeah, make sure you don’t confuse his gender in front of him he’s _super_ touchy about it” she adds. 

"And finally, that-" she points to Mr Smiles "-is Alastor, he's an overlord here in hell, he's super powerful too so...maybe don't get on his bad side yeah?" She whispers that last part, it was a warning and you were all too aware of the implications, it wasn't a threat but it didn't make a difference it might as well have been one. 

Said demon spun around with a huge shit-eating grin etched onto his face "dinner is ready. Everyone, take a seat" his voice comes out like a mid-Atlantic radio announcer that's when you start to notice the harsh static in the air it was practically caressing your skin. The feeling made you uncomfortable. He wore a red shirt with a black cross on the front, he wore black suit pants with red cuffs, and to top it all off his striped red jacket flared out at the waist slightly and was jagged at the bottom. He looked very... _dapper._

Angel and Husk took a seat at the table leaving only one more available seat right next to you the table grew quiet and awkward even Vaggie was starting to look uncomfortable she gave you a strained smile before her face turned sour " _HELLO!_ -" You practically jump 50ft into the air, if you had a soul, you're sure it would have left your body never to be seen again. 

Turning your head to the left Alastor is bent at the waist one arm behind his back and the other holding a plate full of food pasta to be specific it looked delicious and smelled even better your stomach grumbled in agreement, however, one glance around the table would have told you that the others, excluding Niffty and Charlie, looked _concerned._

Alastor's head turned to you his eyes squinted in amusement "our wonderful new guest gets the first plate" he says before setting the dish down in front of you. You simply couldn't wait to eat and after being brought up to be polite and thankful "Thank you" you say quietly feeling slightly unsure. You couldn’t quite explain why you felt such a level of discomfort but you could tell it was because of him, you just didn’t know how he was doing it. 

Satisfied with your answer he walks away to serve everyone else their food before taking the seat next to you. You were about to dig in until someone kicked you in the shin under the table _"ouch"_ you whisper before looking up at the culprit, Vaggie if looks could _kill_ , Alastor would be dead the obvious distrust she had in the guy made you question the edibility of your food. Perhaps you were starting to trust people far too soon, but it was a little hard not to trust her after all she had sheltered and practically saved you. 

She looked at you with thinly-veiled concern her eyebrows were pinched together, her frown had gotten deeper if that were even possible. Everyone stared at you both as if you were having some sort of silent conversation you looked back down eyeing your food with scrutinizing suspicion. Had he done something to it that she knew about and you didn’t? You push the pasta around your plate for a few minutes, inspecting it for foul play. 

Charlie simply shrugged and started to dig in, Alastor's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger everyone else's eyes were wide, watching with anticipation as if she could drop dead any second but instead she smiled with her cheeks stuffed with food Vaggie looked back to you and you shrugged at her taking a bite of your pasta your eyes light up "wow, this is really good" the words rushed from your mouth you hadn't meant to say them you hadn't meant to stroke his ego. 

But the food was really good " _Ahaha_ what a polite young woman, why, thank you, my dear" Alastor replies Vaggie huffs taking a bite of her food, her faces screws’ up into annoyance before she says "It's...okay" you offer her a smile as everyone started eating. 

Vaggie and Charlie started chatting, Angel started flirting with Husk, Husk kept telling him to "FUCK OFF!" And Niffty was eating her food so fast you were honestly concerned but your nerves were starting to settle you were even getting used to the unusual static. Once everyone had finished Charlie turned to you "okay so there's something I should explain about the hotel" she looks so excited you can't help but be swept away in her idea. 

The princess of hell wanted to rehabilitate sinners so that they could go to heaven. You liked the idea "that sounds great Charlie, if you need any help around the hotel, I'd be happy to give you hand" Vaggie smiled she was so glad you had accepted her idea. Charlie was extremely excited "I'll take you up on that" she rushes out she looked as though she were about to leap over the table to hug you. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So how did ya' end up down here, huh?" You were startled by the sudden question "Angel!" Vaggie berated sending him a stern glare he gives her a 'what the fuck did I do?' look before shrugging holding up his first set of arms and crossing his second set "what it's just a question? Come on aren't you guys a little curious?" Angel defends looking back at you with half-lidded eyes "so what did ya do toots?" He asked once again everyone's eyes were on you and you just sort of... _froze._

"I don't really wanna’ talk about it right now," you say in a hurry picking up your plate and taking it to the sink which was right behind Vaggie's seat. You could feel their eyes boring into your back, there were many reasons why you didn’t want to talk about it, the betrayal was still fresh in your mind and people that went to hell were diabolical that was the sole reason for why they ended up there. What you had done was nowhere near as bad as what any of those at the table could have done. 

“Awh, come on toots” Angel tried again while looking at his nails, gonna’ have to paint these again damn, he thought. You huff maybe a little information would shut him up for a while “It was a family thing; can we please not talk about this right now?” You reply only to hear a bitter laugh “come on! It can’t be that hard to talk about...I mean it’s not like your _family_ killed you, right!” Angel laughs. Your shoulders sag, you would have laughed it off if it hadn’t hit such a nerve. 

The room grew quiet and _cold. “Bingo,"_ you say setting down your dish on the draining board before turning to face him, his smile dropped “wha-” 

“I said Bingo, ding, ding, ding, we have a winner, want a fucking meddle?” You reply sarcastically. Vaggie looks absolutely pissed as she glares Angel down, said arachnid was looking shifty and uncomfortable, Husk looked as though he could care less, Alastor’s grin was absolutely huge, Niffty’s eye was literally looking at everyone at once and Charlie looked sad and if not slightly disappointed “Angel-” she started softly as if she were talking to a troublesome child. 

Angel sighs, before fluffing up his... _chest?_ And smoothing over his hair “uh, ah listen, toots, I didn’t mean to, ah, ya know?” He starts but it wasn’t really an apology you take in a deep breath before looking him in the eye and smiling “yeah, no one ever does do they?” You reply sharply before leaving the room as calmly as you could, you knew damn well that you weren’t going to let yourself cry in front of him, in front of any of the others. You guessed Charlie and Vaggie would be the only exception to that rule...for now. 

You hear a commotion start up behind you before the kitchen door opens and closes again and suddenly a hand is placed awkwardly on your shoulder you turn to see Vaggie giving you a strained smile “I’m sorry about Angel, the guy can be an ass but sometimes he doesn’t realize he’s doing it and other times he does it on purpose” she says almost bitterly like he had pissed her off on purpose before. 

She removes her hand letting it hang by her side as she hugs her waist with her other arm “it’s his defence mechanism, you know? Stay down here long enough and I’m sure you’ll develop one” she laughs half-heartedly trying to lighten the mood and you’re extremely grateful for her efforts because you could tell now that you were right about her, she really wasn’t the touchy-feely type but she was trying, _for you._

She didn’t even know you and she was trying to be kind for you, it seemed unlike her, she didn’t look like and extremely affectionate type but you also got this feeling that maybe around Charlie she was a bit different. You got this feeling that maybe she could be quite lovely if she opened up more, it made you want to get to know her better. You look to your left she’s looking back at you patiently a calm smile spreading across her face showing off pearly white teeth. 

“It’s okay, I know he was just curious and he probably didn’t mean it-” You sigh and feel all of the adrenalin rush out of your body leaving you feeling weak and tired “I just wasn’t expecting him to hit the nail on the head, that and I’m just tired” you continue you almost feel bad for Angel you had snapped at him. You drag your hand over your face, this is not how you wanted your fist night to go. 

Vaggie smiles she could see your inner turmoil and she had a feeling you’d patch things up with Angel soon and the dust would settle “come on I’ll show you to a room and you can get some sleep and have a shower if you want” she offers, you flash her a playful scorned look “you saying I smell?” Vaggie laughs “yeah totally!” You gasp before laughing as well and follow her up the stairs to your room. 

The room she shows you to is rustic, in the centre of the room up against the right-hand wall was a double bed, the bedframe is wooden and almost creaky; the red, rotted, carpet was worn and dusty, the dark gothic wallpaper was peeling off. The light on the ceiling was old and covered by a musky lampshade in a gaudy pattern. On the left wall was an old, well-used wooden vanity, it was slightly chipped and the stood had the velvet padding already ripped and abused. 

There was an empty closet on the right-hand side of the room with a singly hanging light inside it, the whole room could do with a little pick me up but it had character it felt homey “you can decorate your room however you like, I know it seems like a fixer-upper but honestly, it just needs a little care.” Vaggie says wandering into the room and looking around when she turns to you again, she points to a closed-door on the left-hand wall “that’s the bathroom it’s already stocked with products but we can buy more if need be.” 

You nod following her in and glancing around the room, there weren’t many hotels when you were alive that looked like this and heaven forbid you got a room that looked lived in “thanks Vaggie” you mumble shyly Vaggie looked genuinely surprised to hear a personal ‘thank you’ she shrugs offering you a half-smile “no problem, try and get some rest, okay?” she whispers. 

After you both said goodnight you close and lock your door, don’t need smiles wandering into the wrong room by accident and scaring the literal shit out of me, you think that guy was damn creepy and you got this feeling that he was going to be one heck of a presence in your new living arrangement. 

You inspect the bathroom, it was clean which was a plus, the tiles were white with a brown diamond pattern. There was a bathtub as well as a shower and a mirror above the sink. All in all, exactly how you expected the bathroom to look no nasty surprises. 

You take a quick shower, the hot water washing the grime of the day off of your skin, washing your hair in the lavender and honey-scented shampoo and conditioner and you could feel exhaustion starting to settle into your bones after realizing you have nothing to sleep in, you fold up the clothes Charlie gave you and placed them onto a chair near the door. 

Before climbing into bed deciding to forgo clothes, thoughts of the day rush through your head, you knew you’d probably end up living here for a while and you felt bad for being rude to Angel, yes, he had been a bit insensitive but he’d also tried to make it better in his own way. You decided that you would attempt to amend the situation tomorrow you didn’t want things to be awkward you started to fall into a dreamless sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry about the edit some things may be different, (there were a few spelling mistakes that I missed and I know how annoying it can be for readers and writers alike to find spelling mistakes dotted about) 
> 
> If you find any spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes please don't hesitate to let me know because I miss them quite often no matter how many times I re-read the text. Constructive criticism is also greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Thank you and I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Memories, Making Amends and Creepy Ass Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your memories start flooding back in unwanted waves, Charlie decides to take you shopping with Vaggie and you get to know each other a little better, which is more than you can say for the rest of the tenants. Though Vaggie does teach you something interesting about Mr Happy. Now you're starting to become just as wary as she is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Heavy Editing📢 Major changes to the storyline have been made!

You wake to frantic knocking on your bedroom door you cover yourself in your bed sheet quickly, the surprise barely shaking the sleep from your eyes, you stumble over the length of your blanket in your hurry to open the door after the knocking persists. You see an extremely excited Charlie bouncing up and down at your door “Hey I thought, maybe, you’d like to come shopping with Vaggie and me today” she rushes before noticing you’re _only_ wrapped in a bedsheet. 

She blushes brightly making you feel wildly exposed and equally as embarrassed causing you to pull the bedsheet closer to your chest you almost feel like you hand is about to go _through_ your chest, she smiles but looks down to the floor trying to offer you some privacy before saying “oops, I’m sorry I totally forgot to get you something to sleep in-” you laugh cutting her off “it’s okay honestly Charlie you’ve already done so much for me, so please don’t worry, okay?” You reassure her. 

She gives you a minute to get dressed, you throw on the clothes that she gave you yesterday without a care in the world, you were in hell who gives a shit right? Of course, one glance in the mirror and your face falls. Your hair resembled that of a bird's nest, you looked as though you had been dragged through a _hedge_ backwards by your feet. 

You groan "for fuck sake" you mutter throwing your arms up in the air before letting them drop by your side the feeling of pins and needles rush up and down them temporarily due to the dramatic blood rush. You drag yourself back to your bedroom door and open it this time Charlie is leaning against the opposite wall from your room when she looks up, she smiles until she sees your grumpy expression "Hey, what's wrong?" She asks timidly afraid that she had done something to upset you. 

You sigh "Do you have a hairbrush and maybe a hair tie I can borrow just for today?" You force the words out; you hate asking for so much even though you know Charlie would end up being super nice about it. Her eyes light up with stars and you almost feel scared "sure, can I please do your hair for you? It's so long and pretty, _please?_ " She begs, clasping her hands together and lifting one foot up. 

Looking at her like this, standing on one foot like a flamingo, and being all excited you felt kind of jealous but it was also _way_ too early for you to actually give a fuck. You nod your head letting out a resounding yes, and letting the _s_ go on forever before adding "Knock yourself out." 

She leads you to her room again this time knocking on the door you find it odd that she’s knocking on her own door and at first you give her this confused look her eyes sparkle but she doesn’t say anything, you hear a muffled voice asking who it was and what they wanted your eyebrows furrow for a moment until you hear Charlie reply "Vaggie, it's me, I'm not alone are you decent or should we wait?" She asks and suddenly it _clicks._

Your cheeks had never been so red, of course, you'd seen them being overly nice to each other yesterday but you were just now realizing that they were in an actual serious relationship, and it was just occurring to you now that they probably hadn't long been up to some very... _interesting activities._

You hear shuffling around in the room before a muffled ' _come in_ ' beckons Charlie to open the door your heart’s pounding in your ears you were practically sweating, you can only hope that Vaggie is indeed decent, or in the very least covered. As you enter the room you feel shifty and fidgety you hear her smooth voice call out to the both of you "Morning." 

You look up to see Vaggie sat curled up against the headboard of the double bed covered in bedsheets wrapped up just enough that you could see the tops of her ashen coloured shoulders you blush slightly, she looked just like you had been when you answered your door to Charlie, and you suddenly you’re overwhelmed with this feeling that you simply couldn't wait to get pyjamas. 

Your face felt hotter than lava by now and probably rivalled every tomato on Earth she smirked and suddenly you just can't look at her your eyes are darting about the room desperately trying to find something else to focus on while also trying to force all the blood from your cheeks back down to the rest of your body, letting out a nervous cough you reply "hey...morning Vaggie, how are you?" She laughs fisting a handful of the bedsheet and pulling it further up her chest toward the hollow of her throat her hair is tousled and her eyes are shining. 

"I'm fine, but I think your face is about to catch fire, so I'm gonna' get dressed," she says carefully swinging her legs over the other side of the bed dragging the bedsheet with her, she shuffles over to the chest of draws, after rooting around for a few minutes, and you shifting from side to side, she finally grabs some clean clothes and heads into the bathroom but not before giving Charlie a peck on the lips. 

After the bathroom door closes Charlie turns to you with a giggle "sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, we try to keep that kind of stuff to a minimum in front of others" she says skipping over to her vanity, you shake your head it amazed you that couples showing a modicum of affection made others uncomfortable. "No don't be silly, I think it's sweet that you two have each other, I just wasn't expecting to see Vaggie so... _you know_ " You felt so awkward right now, please change the subject, _please?!_ You begged mentally. 

Charlie nods finally pulling out a wooden hairbrush and a cute pink scrunchie with red hearts dotted on it. She pats the vanity stool silently gesturing for you to sit and she gets to work on your crazy bed-hair she gently brushes through the tangles and knots and suddenly you're hit with Deja vu: 

_You remember being sat at the end of your mothers' bed, she was brushing your soft brown hair and humming a beautiful tune like she often did you were lucky to look a lot like her, beautiful pale skin, dappled with freckles, doe brown eyes lined with heavily thick lashes, long dark brown hair. But unluckily you were both quite short._

_“And we’re done, now let me pin it up and then you can go and play, alright sweetie?” She asks in her musical voice, the morning was sunny and extremely warm you were practically bouncing up and down, you wanted to play with Michael again, you wanted to climb your favourite tree and hide there, eating Oreos and chocolate until the sun went down._

_Your mother giggles “stop moving so much” she laughs “but I wanna go and play!” You exclaim childishly throwing your arms up into the air to exaggerate just how excited you were “well, I’ll tell you what, the sooner you calm down the sooner I’ll be done with your hair” your mother offers with a smile, you had never sat so still in your life._

_That was the last day you had seen your mother alive, she looked so alive, colour in her cheeks, a smile on her face, light in her eyes. That’s the only way you wanted to remember her._

You jump feeling two hands shaking you frantically when your eyes finally focus on the present you see that you’re face to face with Vaggie "hey are you okay?" She asks looking concerned, you shake your head and blink a few times before realizing that Charlie had finished with your hair glancing in the vanity mirror you see that she’d tied it into a high ponytail it looked nice, Vaggie had obviously gotten dressed, you must have gotten lost in memory. 

"Uh, yeah I'm fine, I was just lost in thought, I guess" You reply taking a deep breath and letting it go Vaggie didn't seem convinced but didn't question it further. Charlie looked as though she wanted to ask what you had been thinking so _hard_ about before ultimately deciding against it. She clapped her hands together with a wide grin "well, let's go shopping then, shall we?" 

You all made your way to the lobby; Husk was behind the bar drinking cheap booze and occasionally wiping down the countertop whenever Angel touched it, Angel was bent over the bar and obnoxiously flirting with him, you were really starting to feel bad for Husk poor guy just couldn't get away from him, huh? Niffty was sweeping and dusting, moving things about she was practically a blur, but she was such an obvious mix of pink, white and yellow that she was a very noticeable blur. 

Alastor was making his way out of the kitchen and up to the bar "Ah Husker my good friend! Did I ever tell you about-" you could a slight disturbance in the air as he talked you assumed it was the static but when you turned to look at Vaggie you realised that it was possible that maybe it could have been her as she had started radiating annoyance next to you. 

Your curiosity was eating you up and you were scared that if you didn't ask soon there wouldn't be anything left of you. You turn to face the silently fuming moth demon "hey what's your problem with Mr Happy over there?" You ask outright. Because honestly if you could bank on anyone being straight with you down here it was her, this girl looked far too cautious for her own good and yet you knew that it would also make her honest especially when it came to real dangers down here. 

Her jaw almost drops until she remembers that you're still new, still fresh. She snaps her jaw shut; she starts grinding her teeth together trying to think of the right way to warn you away from him without scaring you away from the hotel entirely. "Alastor, as Niffty said last night, is one of the most powerful demons in hell. He manifested overnight and toppled some of the most powerful overlords who had been in power for centuries!" 

She continued telling Alastors' story of origin to you looking positively infuriated, to say that she didn't trust the guy would be an understatement if there ever was one. The story had your mind racing, that guy had _cooked your food_ , you had _eaten_ his food, you had _complimented_ his cooking! You know that mentally that may sound stupid but if this guy was as powerful as she makes him out to be then it would be easy for him to topple this entire hotel and you could only assume that he had several creative ways to do it. 

You felt nauseated you may have very few reasons to trust Vaggie but she had sheltered you and she didn't have to, the way she talked about this guy made you extremely wary of him. Almost like he could read your thoughts his head snaps in your direction, like it actually snaps the bone in his neck is just all kinds of wrong, making both Angel and Husk cringe _visibly_. 

His smile was ever-present and you were starting to wonder if he ever frowned, and suddenly the made-up image in your head told you that there was no way you wanted to see the day when he stopped smiling that _creepy-ass_ smile of his. 

_No fucking way!_ A shiver made its way up and down your spine _oh so slowly_ forcing a shudder out of you. You tear your gaze away from him and force your eyes to settle on Vaggie again as your complexion paled "Don't trust him, and definitely _do not_ make a deal with him!" She warns grabbing your elbows with her soft hands you both watch as Charlie continues down the lobby stairs before turning back to each other and for the life of you, you simply couldn't stop the enthusiastic nod of agreement that took hold of you. 

You, Charlie and Vaggie finally reached the bottom of the stairs "Okay everyone Vaggie and I are taking our guest out to get some clothes, so please don't break anything I want this place to be exactly how we left it when we come back" Charlie pauses letting the information settle in before adding "Alastor you're in charge until I get back" Vaggie immediately stiffens next to you, and you can barely contain your surprise as well. 

Turning to Charlie with wide eyes you almost want to ask if that's such a good idea "Well, of course, my dear, I wouldn't dream of letting anything happen to this hotel of yours. You can count on me, you three have fun" He replies obnoxiously cutting off your train of thought, he's rather animated when he speaks, you think, and suddenly you wonder if it's really necessary. 

Charlie nods once and starts tugging both you and Vaggie out of the hotel entrance, either she was fearful that you guys would never leave or she was fearful that Vaggie would burst a blood vessel which seemed far more likely. Once the three of you were finally outside the hotel Vaggie crosses her arms looking both pissed and worried she mutters something under her breath, something that, apparently, Charlie didn’t catch but you and your big ass ears did _'this place is gonna be trashed when we get back’_ before shaking her head, deciding to just let it go. 

You, on the other hand, were a compressed ball of confusion, concern and utter nervous energy all of which were making your stomach feel fluttery, how could Charlie have such trust in a man that obviously saw what she was doing as a complete joke? It just didn’t make sense to you, your eyebrows furrow for the thousandth time and the simple action alone was making your head hurt. Charlie opens a car door and hops into the driver's seat while Vaggie rounds the other side and climbs into the passenger seat next to her. 

The car was a sleek black, mostly, there were other colours on it but they were very subtle, a lovely lilac and a very light pink, in two thin lines next to each other on the bonnet overall it was a very beautiful and very expensive looking car, when the engine started it purred to life and made little to no noise. The interior was a lovely cream colour, Charlie rolls down her window and notices you admiring the car she smiles “you know the seats have built-in seat warmers too!” She yells capturing your attention. 

_Huh?_ Your brain pauses, and suddenly your thought process becomes a jumbled mess, that's a car. _Well duh dumbass_. If they have TV's and Radios and fucking everything else then, of course, they have cars! But for some reason the thought made you laugh as you clamber into the back seat. Vaggie sends you a questioning look, but you just shake your head with a smile “you had me at seat warmers” you reply. 

The three of you talked about multiple things for most of the car ride, you and Vaggie talked a little about your lives which Charlie found utterly fascinating, nothing about what you had done or how you had died, of course, you both weren't quite there on the sharing bit yet. But normal topics were discussed at length. 

You talked about favourite foods, colours, heck even your favourite seasons yours was autumn it was the time for hoodies although every season was hoodie season to you Vaggie preferred the summer you feel like you’d both been talking for a while it was interesting to hear what she liked and disliked. You finally arrived at a cluster of cute looking shops they were all kind of crammed together, with this being hell and all it seemed like there was a real lack of personal space in every sense of the word. 

The first shop you entered was quaint every item of clothing had a pop of colour you found some decent underwear and pyjamas in there. Moving on to the next shop you had picked up a hairbrush, an orange top that crisscrossed around the neck with a black elastic waistband the settled in the dip of your stomach showing a little bit of your tummy but nothing you were too uncomfortable with. 

You also picked up a pair of black jeans with orange suspenders attached that you let hang down your legs instead of having them on your shoulders. And finally, in the last shop, you found a pair of dark brown combat boots, a few other pieces of clothing to relax in, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. 

You all finally fell back into the car feeling hungry but satisfied and overall, you were really happy that you got to spend the day with the people that seemed to care about your wellbeing. You all headed back to the hotel chatting about the experience "we should do this again sometime, maybe with Niffty or Angel!" Charlie says excitedly Vaggie lightly elbows her before giving her a look and suddenly Charlie's apologizing... _again_. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry I wasn't thinking," she said a little glumly you sigh this seemed to be quickly becoming some kind of personality trait for you, you almost feel like if you sigh enough times you might die again because you’ve somehow run out of breath. 

"It's okay Charlie, I think it could be a good way for Angel and me to mend fences, so to speak." You reply with a smile thinking back to the small, unneeded argument that had broken out last night. You felt bad that you had only been there one night and yet you were causing problems, they had lived with each other longer than they had lived with you so it falls to you to try and make the situation easier by fixing the problems you cause. 

You arrive back at the hotel, it's funny you used to get travel sick when you were alive, who knew that would carry over into your death as well? You hurry out of the car and collapsed to a heap on the ground, feeling pale and sketchy, you let the breeze roll over you, blowing through your long hair you feel like you were heading into winter months or some shit that breeze was icy. Charlie had done an excellent job tying your hair up into a high ponytail so that it wouldn't drag along the floor. 

It was also perfectly holding your hair away from your face as you start retching in dry heaves. Fortunately for you, nothing comes up because you haven't eaten yet. The one thing you'd rather not do right now is throw up it’s bad enough when you’re a human you can’t imagine what it would be like as a demon, you honestly hope it’s not too drastically different but you just wouldn’t know until it happens and you had no doubt it would at some point. 

Charlie is immediately beside you rubbing your back "are you okay?" She asks eyeing you worried that maybe you were getting sick, you nod waiting for the feeling to pass, taking in deep breaths "yeah, I get travel sick, who knew you could still get travel sick when you're dead" you laugh shakily trying to ease her worries by making a joke and lifting yourself to your feet. 

Nodding your head to both Charlie and Vaggie you finally head inside with all your bags, Charlie and Vaggie are chatting away about when to do this next, and what to do now. 

You were the only one paying attention to the shenanigans going on in the lobby the pig whose name had escaped you was treading in broken glass and what you could only assume was alcohol, Angel was hardcore flirting with Husk, Husk was in the middle of downing _another_ beer just so he could throw the bottle at him. 

Niffty was going around trying to clean up the mess and getting absolutely nowhere, and Alastor was just stood there... _grinning_ watching the events unfold as if this were some live sitcom and he was part of the live audience you tilt your head to one side. That smile was extra-large, in fact, you’re sure you could count all of his teeth from here. 

That would seem normal to you, he smiles all the time it would be more unnatural if he weren't smiling, but this smile was _sadistic_ and just downright terrifying, he was enjoying himself a little too much. It astounded you that Charlie and Vaggie hadn't noticed yet! 

You drop your bags to the floor and step back a few paces behind the distracted couple, gently grabbing the tops of both of their heads and turning them to face the commotion. 

For a few heartbeats, everything seemed to slow and become silent. 

Yet, you could feel beside you, Vaggie's rage building, the lobby was definitely not how you had left it just as she had predicted and Alastor was obviously doing nothing to prevent the problem. You sneaked a peek at Charlie who seemed to be very calmly surveying the problem, you felt bad for her, the two simple things she had asked for and they couldn't even do that. 

Vaggie had just about had enough... _apparently_. 

You were so very glad that you had yet to be on the receiving end of Vaggie's rage, it truly knew no bounds in the past fifteen minutes you had seen her throw daggers at Angel watching him skitter about all over the place offered you a modicum of amusement but you were also quite worried. She threw broken pieces of glass _back_ at Husk and now you were currently watching her hold a spear to the Radio Demons throat, who by the way was looking incredibly calm for a man who was being threatened nine ways to Sunday. 

Apparently, this was not the first time she had threatened him and dare you say, it most definitely wouldn’t be the last. Charlie finally managed to calm her down and got a handle on the situation firstly turning to Angel Dust and Husk and asking them rather calmly what had happened to cause such a fight apparently Angel's one-sided flirting coupled with a long amount of alone time with him and Alastor had finally annoyed poor Husk enough for him to do something about it, though not a very good something. 

But to be honest it could have been way worse you were impressed that they hadn’t completely trashed the entire hotel or burnt it down at least. She turns to Alastor next "Alastor I left you in charge so that things like this wouldn't happen, why didn't you try to stop them?" She asked all too nicely which seemed to only infuriate Vaggie more " _I TOLD YOU_...you can't trust this _creep!_ He doesn't care he's just looking for his next fix of entertainment he said so _himself!_ " 

"Ahahaha! While that last part is true, I should tell you that I did try to stop them but it only seemed to annoy poor Husker more, I didn't want to be the cause of any more damage, dear-" he stops abruptly, clicking his fingers and suddenly the lobby is back to normal as if the fight had never happened and you would have questioned if it, had you not just witnessed it yourself. 

"-When I can simply fix the mess they make, with a snap of my fingers," he replies looking as smug as ever his eyes dance over her features before doing the same to both you and Vaggie looking for any signs that we were impressed by his little trick which in all honesty you were. However, Charlie, although impressed with the strange magic act, was also a little disappointed that he had let it go on for so long. 

She was starting to think Vaggie was right she deflates a little waving her hand dismissively “fine, we’re back now just make sure this doesn’t happen in the future” she replies tiredly before walking back over to you and whispering "do you think you can take these to your room by yourself, I need to talk to Vaggie alone" you knew she was under a lot of stress right now and she deserved her space especially when it concerned the state of the hotel. 

You nod "of course if you need me, then I’ll either be in my room or down here with Husk maybe" you reply equally as quiet she nods and gently grabs one of Vaggie’s hands interlocking their fingers together and sharing an affectionate look. You watch them retreat up the stairs silently before disappearing out of sight. You stare at where they had disappeared to before picking up your bags, you hadn't realised you had bought so much, or rather Charlie had bought you so much. 

You'd have to find a way to pay her back for this you’re not sure how but you would find a way even if it killed you, the thought was amusing, you slowly wander toward the stairs too distracted by your whirlwind of thoughts to realise that some of the others were staring at you. You're just about to climb the first few steps until you feel something, or rather someone, tug on one of your bags. 

You turn around and let out a startled yelp in the weak attempt to hold in a scream, Alastor was uncomfortably close to you. You were having a hard time trying not to fall backwards, you clear your throat. This close you can see his face in detail, you're not entirely sure if that’s a good thing but right now that doesn’t matter, you could see that his eyes seemed kind of illuminated, which seemed crazy but perhaps in hell it was too strange. If you were to be fair, they were quite beautiful. 

The silence that passes over the both of you slowly starts to become uncomfortable and he could tell, you could see the realization shimmering in his eyes making them shine in pure delight, he was enjoying making you uncomfortable. You swallow thickly and cave into your desire to create some distance between you by taking a step back ultimately taking a step up the stairs. 

"My dear, that looks like a lot of bags you've got there, would you like me to carry some for you?" He finally offers, the static in the air crackling around you seemed to have its own volume as it pounded in your ears. But you could also swear it was tangible you could feel it against your skin. You look down at your bags, unsure, Vaggie's warning rang loud and clear in your head. So, what was he after? What would he stand to gain by helping _you_ with something so _mundane?_

Your reply or rather lack of one didn't seem to matter, however, as some of the bags are ripped from your hands and a flash of red was already making its way up the stairs. You turn and quickly follow suit, you struggled to catch up as you followed the tall Radio Demon down the hall "what a nice way for us to get to know each other better!" He says obnoxiously. 

Coming to a complete stop in front of you which causes you to crash into his back and fall on your ass " _ow_ " you say quietly, rubbing your nose if you had been human you were damn sure you would have broken your nose. He laughs loudly, promptly pulling you to your feet before, practically, crushing you against his side an arm wrapped around your shoulders unmoving and continuing to take long strides down the hallway. 

He prattled on about the 'unfortunate events of last night' and you honestly started tuning him out, mind wandering to how you were going to apologize to Angel, he didn't seem easy to talk to and he was so tall it made him seem unapproachable "the effeminate fellow downstairs really ruffled your feathers last night, didn't he?" Alastor states raising an eyebrow at you, most likely realising your attention drifted away from him. 

You sigh, shoulders slumping in the process "It's fine, it's only natural to be curious" you reply, the static spiked briefly, it was starting to feel harsh, _threatening_ , making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight. You didn’t dare to look up at him, this looming pressure was making you more nervous than you already were, you felt like you were about to implode or something. 

A thought crossed your mind as the silence stretched on, he seemed to be contemplating his reply, despite your fox tail and ears you were starting to feel more like the prey than the predator you were depicted to be, you would have found this a little amusing and ironic if the demon next to you didn't make you near sick to your stomach with nerves. 

His smile hadn't left his face but it had become closed-lipped when he replied "yes I suppose curiosity is natural, but the rest of us agreed that those questions were completely unnecessary" He stops again and when you look away from him you realize you've stopped outside your room, how the _fuck_ did he know where your room was? You were only just shown to it yesterday. 

"You shouldn't let that effeminate spider upset you so, after all, it's not like he's any better, is he, my dear?" Alastor places your bags at your feet before crossing his arms behind his back. His mannerisms make you wonder what time he’d died in he looked and acted very gentlemanly like but sometimes there was sarcasm laced in his words. You turn to answer him only to find the empty space he once occupied; the static had gone as well leaving you feeling as though you could finally breathe. 

You open your bedroom door and head to your closet turning on the light you put all your clothes on hangers and put them away still wondering how to make things better with Angel. You could just try apologizing outright but it didn’t feel like enough. You huff closing up your closet, why is this _so hard?_ You groan pinching the bridge of your nose you could feel a headache coming on you decide to drop the topic, for now, something was bound to come to you, eventually. 

You leave your room again closing the door behind you and making your way back down to the newly cleaned lobby, the T.V was playing some news channel a blonde woman with a foul attitude and a fidgety looking man with a gas mask were sat behind a large desk talking about this and that. You glance around losing interest in their drivel, Angel, Niffty and Alastor were nowhere to be seen, Charlie and Vaggie still appeared to be having their private chat that left Husk. 

Husk was stood behind the bar drinking another beer, _surprise, surprise_. You shake your head with an absentminded smile, you figured Husk would be a universal constant in a place like this no matter what, day or night, that guy would be found behind, or at least near, the bar drinking his problems away. And you couldn’t blame him this Hell after all, why not do what you want it’s not like alcohol could kill him again, right? 

You walk up to the bar, eyes suddenly trained back on the television, as you jump onto a barstool and lean your head against your arm. Katie Killjoy, the blonde unpleasant-looking woman, was updating the denizens of hell on the recent events going on in the nine circles. "You wanna drink, kid?" A gruff voice asks you smile knowing it was Husk, you were surprised he even asked. 

Turning to look at him you hum for a minute before replying "sure" he places a glass in front of you filled half-way with whisky? You weren’t entirely sure if that’s what it was but it’s what it smelled like and the colour wasn't too far off, Whisky is something you hated the most but hey you weren't going to turn it down if it was _free_. 

You shrug taking the glass and downing the entire drink like it was a shot...until you realise that was a _huge mistake_. The burning was instantaneous and long-lasting, it didn't taste like any whisky you'd ever had in life, you pull a disgusted face that makes Husk crack a smile "ugh that tastes like gasoline" you say in a whispery voice, that was one strong drink. Seriously, you felt as though you had just drunk petrol straight from a gas pump. 

"Don't drink much do ya?" He asks sipping at his beer again you shake your head "I don't drink whisky often" he doesn’t correct you so you assume that maybe you’d gotten it right, this was nice finally a conversation completely unrelated to your life or lack of it should you say. The moment passed really quickly though as you hear Angel from the top of the stairs. 

But you can't bring yourself to care, it seems alcohol here is way stronger than what you're used to, one drink and your head is swimming in warm fuzzy feelings. For the first time since you got here, you felt relaxed, completely unbothered by whatever's happening in your surroundings. Your whole body felt warm and tingly it was nice, it’s been a while since you’ve had a buzz but even longer since you’d been drunk. 

Husk is grumbling and telling Angel to ' _fuck off_ ' again, nothing new there you giggle to yourself a bit which draws attention "uh toots?" You look up to see Angel eyeing you warily "are you, ah, drunk?" He asks, you close your eyes and, with a big smile, shake your head, no, you open your eyes again to see disbelief flash across his face. 

He folds his top set of arms under his bust making it appear bigger and places his second set on his hips "really?" He asks again, this time instead of answering a burp escapes you, making you jump "my burps burn" you slur at him with a lazy smile and suddenly you're a mess of giggles on the floor. The hotel lobby is somehow on its side. You don’t remember that happening but, of course, you were technically drunk. 

From the top of the stairs, you see a sideways Charlie and Vaggie making their way towards you looking worried but you just can't stop laughing your stomach was starting to hurt. Charlie and Vaggie manage to lift you to your feet. Conversations started that seemed fuelled with concern and irritation. 

Angel's dramatically gesturing with his multiple arms, and you start to notice that you aren't hearing what they're talking about, all of your weight shifts onto Charlie who seems to have no problems in holding you up you can tell that Vaggie’s yelling at Angel just by the way that she moved and her angry expressions, you can feel your reactions slowing down almost coming to a halt until you just barely see Vaggie summon a blade and throw it at Angel. Your body automatically reacts. 

You're _moving?_ Huh, yeah, you're going places! Your brain was drunk but your body didn't feel it, you were on auto-pilot which was probably a good thing as right now you felt incapable of speaking let alone thinking coherently. You could see yourself catching the blade with your bare hand but your head felt fuzzy and strange. 

Your hearing started to return but the room was silent you don’t think you could even hear so much as a breath, you stared at the blade in your hand and watched the blood drip off it slowly prompting Charlie and Vaggie to spring into action "what were you thinking!" Vaggie yells worriedly. But you feel unable to reply. 

Your eyes flicker from your hand to Angel and back as you're dragged into the kitchen where the smell and steam of cooking hits' you like a brick wall. Alastor's neck snaps toward the three of you with a sickening crunch that makes your stomach churn and colour disappear from your face, you felt stuffy and clammy. 

"My, my, my. _That_ doesn't look good!" He announces looking at your hand which is still holding the blade in a tight grip, blood was dripping onto the kitchen tiles, no if he was only looking that would be okay, but he wasn't he was salivating and licking his lips like a damn lion with his stupid grin, those eyes, red as the blood that was currently evacuating from your hand, were fixated on your hand watching the blood on the blade with a hunger that made you sick. 

The overwhelming flood of emotions left you feeling shaky and weak the adrenaline coupled with the alcohol was wearing off and black spots were starting to flood your vision, you just knew you were going to pass out. You slowly lowered yourself to your knees just as your vision left you. You could hear surprised chattering and the sound of metal clattering to the kitchen floor before the darkness claimed you fully. 

_Charlie let out a surprised yelp as you collapsed in the middle of the kitchen and finally letting go of the knife._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always, all comments are greatly appreciated if you spot any mistakes, spelling, punctuation, or otherwise please don't hesitate to let me know so I can amend them.  
> Thank you!


	3. We really gonna argue...AGAIN?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally repair your damaged friendship? With Angel Dust, only for you to stumble into a weird, whatever the fuck Alastor's thinking of. You suddenly feel like he's found a source of entertainment, YOU! Are you gonna be able to deal with his shenanigans or are you gonna' end up wishing for a second death already?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Heavily Edited📢 This Chapter underwent some heavy editing so if it seems different or longer that will be why.

Vaggie quickly pulls your unconscious body into her arms, she felt so guilty and yet she also felt conflicted, said demon had caught her blade off her own back, but she had also been intoxicated, and heavily so. But you were like a little sister to her, already, and the fact that you had heroically saved Angel from her daggers, it kind of warmed her heart to know that even drunk you cared enough about him to do that. 

Ugh, this is ridiculous; it’s not my fault so why am I feeling so guilty? She shakes her head looking at the Radio Demon for a split second and a shiver wracks her bones, the way he was looking at you passed out in her arms completely vulnerable it made her want to run away with you and never look back, it was _predatory._

Nothing at that moment scared her more than the thought of leaving you alone with him. He looked as if he were going to snatch you away devour you whole “Perhaps, my dear, you should be cleaning her wound rather than glaring at yours truly because if I’m not mistaken that is one of your daggers, is it not?” He says suddenly turning back to the stove where the food had been cooking, snapping his fingers every pot on that stove disappeared along with his ridiculous pink apron. 

He made several steps toward you before she finally forced herself to lift you up and out of his reach, cradling you as close to her body as she could, trying to shield you from his prying eyes. Charlie gave her a strange look. If only she understood how she really felt about you, she would understand why she edged you away from his grasp. 

You were like the sister she always wanted but never had. She felt protective of you, though at the moment she wouldn’t admit it not even to Charlie, _not yet anyway._ She cared for you dearly but it was a bit soon to be mentioning that to anyone as of right now. 

She quickly lays you, gently, on one of the counters pulling out the medical box from under the sink she cleans your hand and sighs in relief when she sees that the cut wasn’t too deep definitely not deep enough to need stitches. She carefully wraps it in a bandage and turns to Charlie who seemed to be having a quiet word with Alastor. 

He was still staring at you; you could feel his gaze on you it felt like a tonne of bricks weighing you down. You let out a pained sigh and open your eyes slowly at first the blinding light is all that greets your tired eyes. You angle your head differently and the first person you see is Vaggie she looks just as pale and sketchy as you felt “Are you okay?” You seem to be getting asked this a lot and honestly, you were starting to really hate it. 

Instead of answering you sit up on your elbows even though your head starts to spin and your body literally doesn’t have the strength to hold your weight. It takes you a few minutes to be able to sit up fully, but when you do you notice Charlie and Alastor stood at the opposite side of the room. Just in front of the kitchen doors...you know the only way in and out of this room and it was blocked by an almost feral looking Alastor. 

You suddenly realise why you passed out in the first place, fuck how had you forgotten how heavy the static was? It was almost forcing you back down. That grin was making you feel so uneasy. _Nauseated,_ wasn’t nearly a good enough word to describe how you were feeling in this moment, _how he was making you feel._ You could feel panic swelling up in your chest and your eyes themselves were welling up it was taking all of your control not to cry. The last thing you wanted was to have an emotional break down in front of someone who would probably enjoy it. 

You honestly felt like your anxiety was becoming a small room, your breath was coming in short gasps and it takes you a minute to realize Charlie’s talking but she’s not looking at you she’s looking at Vaggie. You just wanted it to stop, this feeling of unease. It wouldn’t go away as long as he was here the feeling would remain. As long as you both held eye contract the feeling would remain. 

Vaggie moved to stand between you cutting off all eye contact between you and him. There was some shouting for a moment you could tell that it was Vaggie and the voice that replied was definitely his but you weren’t paying attention exactly what they were saying because realization hit you, you knew this would be the start of something dangerous, a game only he knew how to play. And you were just along for the sick and twisted ride. 

Vaggie had told you that he had agreed to help out with the hotel in the hopes that it would cure his boredom, that he would find a new source of _entertainment_ , you had this sick feeling coiling in your gut that he had just found it. He’d found it in messing with you, in making you feel uncomfortable. In making you feel unsafe, it was perfect because really where else could you go? You were the perfect game because you’d never be able to get away from him, ever. 

The kitchen door opens and swings closed, the static that had once lapped at your hand and _exposed neck_ eased slightly before disappearing completely. You felt like you were coming out of some fever dream, a haze. You could finally think _clearly_. 

Vaggie turns slightly to look at you and you notice that both Charlie and Alastor are gone “This is one long-ass day” you breathe, breaking the silence your heartbeat starting to slow back into its normal pace. Vaggie lets out a breathy laugh before nodding “yeah tell me about it, I have a feeling it’s only going to get longer” she replies, you sure hoped not. If anything, you hoped that the day would start speeding up a little now. 

You hopped down from the counter feeling much better even if your hand did sting a little, and you and Vaggie walked into the lobby once more. Niffty was sweeping, Angel was actually sat at the bar and _silent_ for once. Husk wasn’t even drinking he was just watching some random sitcom. 

Alastor and Charlie were nowhere in sight, you knew this because you literally couldn’t see them. You couldn’t fee the static anywhere but the tiny receptive hairs on the back of your neck were tingling telling you that something was wrong, they were reacting to something you couldn’t see. 

Why do you feel like he’s still watching you? You look around the rest of the lobby but nothing was out of place, nothing was different or striking you as odd you couldn’t put your finger on it but something was off you just couldn’t see it. You tried to shake the feeling because frankly it was terrifying the shit out of you and you had other things you just needed to sort out before you all sat around a table to eat together. 

Honestly, it was going to be disturbing enough sitting at the same table with Alastor you didn’t need a strained relationship with Angel hanging in the balance as well, you’d had enough of the mental anguish it was causing not only you but him as well, it seems. He’d been sending you little searching glances ever since he entered the lobby earlier while you were drunk. And although you may have been too intoxicated to realize it then you realized it now. You decided enough was enough. 

_It’s time to mend fences, what better time to do it than when you practically saved his ass while drunk as a skunk?_

You calmly and a little shakily make your way over to Angel and swallow thickly. This was going to be excruciatingly painful and by that, you meant painfully awkward it seemed that’s just how your weird relationship with him was going to be, well here we go. You clear your throat catching his attention, he looks at you with his two odd coloured eyes and suddenly nerves hit you like a brick wall everything you were about to say flies out of your head. 

“Uh, um, I was just, ah...fuck I had it!” You fume to yourself, fuck it! “I’m sorry about last night I didn’t mean to get angry” You rush Angel’s eyes widen “hey look toots, you caught a dagger for me, we’re good,” He says before cracking a crooked smile “Plus you’re a huge lightweight so if ya’ get pissy again I can always use that to my advantage” he adds. 

You choose to let that one slide, blushing slightly, you wonder exactly what had happened that caused you to fall off the barstool. You shake your head and mumble a ‘yeah whatever’ before taking the seat next to him. You found that he was super talkative. When it came to himself. And his work. 

Not exactly like you’d pictured him, yeah, he seemed intimidating but it was more because of his confidence, he was comfortable with himself, unlike you. No one had mentioned it to you yet, but you had been subconsciously flattening your ears to your head all day it was a wonder you could hear anything properly at all. You hadn’t known how to feel about the whole tail and ear situation when you first arrived, quite frankly you’d thought about picking out clothes that hid them, you did buy one baseball cap, it was all black but that was just because you thought it was cute. 

You also go this feeling that if you tried to hide your tail, you’d get majorly uncomfortable, you sometimes wondered if that how guys felt with their...genital situation. Which really made you glad to be a girl sometimes, you grew up with three brothers and you dared not ask any of them not even Mike, and he probably would have been cool with it. 

However, there was simply nothing you could do about your tail, that sucker had a mind of its own, fuckin’ wagged when you were happy, stilled between your legs when you were scared, you were starting to think you were actually a dog. Because you couldn’t remember foxes doing any of that shit and you looked after an injured one when you were six-years-old. So, you get this feeling you’d remember that you know? 

But as you had been listening to Angel who seemed very open about what he was doing for work down here your ears had started to relax into their upright position giving them a much-needed break honestly it felt good to just give them a little rest not to mention you didn’t have to strain your hearing to understand what he was saying anymore. 

You only noticed this when you saw his eyes trail up to your ears and stay fixed there “what?” You ask his eyes dart back to yours and he smiles shaking his head he continues on talking occasionally flirting with Husk who immediately grabbed a beer and started drinking, you laughed at their antics as you watched them banter back and forth. For a small while, everything was good. You were happy. _Relaxed_. 

Until the air started to prickle against your skin like electricity bursting to life, the sound of dress shoes against polished marble alerted you to the arrival of the one person you didn’t want to see right now. Your anxiety spiked, your body stiffened and the name falling off of Charlie’s lips only confirmed your suspicions. You could hear them chatting away behind you. 

Angel rolled his eyes, Husk huffed and started to drink more, Niffty left your line of sight and started listing off things that she would need help with throughout the hotel to none other than Alastor himself. Apparently, he was her boss or some such bullshit. You vaguely remember Vaggie describing it as him ‘cashing in a few favours’ you hoped you’d never owe him a favour, ever. 

“Oh, well this simply won’t do!” He exclaims as if it were such a big deal, you simply refused to turn around and look at them, Angel was already doing his own thing, which was examining his newly painted fuchsia nails, Husk was tuning into that sitcom again. You decided you’d try to watch it as well, _distraction, sweet, sweet distraction._

The footfalls stopped somewhere behind you and had you not had the ears that you, unfortunately, do have you would have been completely unaware of him being stood right behind you, yet you were. You were only too aware of the presence that was practically breathing down your neck making the hairs there rise. You’re surprised he couldn’t hear your heartbeat with how close he was stood, although for all you knew, maybe, he could. 

You forced yourself to continue watching the TV you simply didn’t have the energy left to feel uneasy but apparently, Smiles had a different plan “well, hello my dear, I was wondering if I might borrow a bit of your time?” He asks loudly like usual; you want so desperately to ignore him. To keep him tuned out, to keep him further than arm's length because you hated that fight or flight feeling he gave you. 

Sending a glance to Husk who was still watching the TV you heave a sigh “what” you reply moodily you refuse to look at him you keep your eyes on the TV but you lend an ear to him “If I remember rightly you offered last night to volunteer your services” He says, your head whips around to face him with wide eyes, nothing good could come from that statement “I believe I offered that to Charlie, not you” you reply though somewhat meekly. 

Suddenly an audience laugh track reverberates around the room you look around in surprise, you note that Angel and Husk are rolling their eyes simultaneously, looking around you find nothing out of the ordinary but looking back at Alastor you almost do a double-take he’s now holding an old-timey microphone on a long stand; it definitely wasn’t there before. 

You secretly wonder what else he can do that you don’t know about because apparently making things appear out of thin air is something he’s not afraid to show off, you wonder if maybe there are things that he can do that he keeps to himself just to surprise people, you have doubt there are a few things. 

He laughs and bends at the waist folding on arm behind his back and the other loosely holding the microphone in the crook of his elbow “I believe the offer was to help out with this hotel, was it not?” He asks raising a single eyebrow with a mischievous smile, one that gives you chills and you just know you’re gonna’ get roped into doing some stupid shit around the hotel that just won’t be useful at all. 

“Well, yeah-” You’re immediately cut off by him “well, my dear, I believe I have the perfect job for you!” He says, an audience cheer track plays, and now you’re sure of where it’s coming from. Your scrutinizing gaze lands on his microphone as he starts swinging it about skilfully without a care. When he’s finished, he stands it up on the floor and leans against the microphone crossing one foot in front of the other propping it up on the toes of his dress shoes. 

You raise an eyebrow and refuse to give him the satisfaction of asking just what that job would be, still keeping that stupid grin on his stupid face “why, my dear, I think you would be all too suited to helping out our dear little Niffty” he states pointing at the short cyclops. His smile turns from mischievous to cheeky as he gives you a knowing look like he can feel the irritation rolling off of you. You glare at him unable to control your face any longer. 

“There are some jobs she’s far too short for, wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a kind young woman who could lend her a hand with those cleaning duties?” He questions obnoxiously catching the attention of Charlie who had been relaxing on the sofa with Vaggie. 

Overhearing your conversation, she’s by your side in an instant, stars in her eyes, hands on her cheeks looking adorably excited “oh are you helping Niffty out, that’s so awesome, I can’t thank you enough for your help” she says in a rush barely taking a breath. You want to protest your eyes shoot back to Alastor and his smile is smug, his eyes are glimmering in amusement, the only reason he wants you to help Niffty is because, then technically, he would be your boss, you don’t like that thought at all. 

You’ve been defeated, Alastor, you can say no to without a second thought but Charlie? That was a whole new kettle of fish, you just couldn’t disappoint her she just looked so adorable and happy how could you be so cruel as to take that away from her? You slowly hold up two thumbs up and say “sure, sounds great.” And as she turns to Vaggie to squeal in delight your arms drop to your sides as you think, _not like regret at all!_

You watch from the corner of your eye, Alastor disappears into the kitchen his grin stretching into an uncomfortable width that right there was just pure amusement. You had a feeling you were going to hate every minute of this. It didn’t help that the delightful smell of food made all of your feelings toward one person completely mixed. 

Charlie and Vaggie were back to sitting on the sofa on the opposite side of the lobby Angel, was emitting tense energy next to you, Husk had a face like a smacked arse, and Niffty was prattling on about all the jobs she couldn’t do, due to her hight, to you. 

You were nodding absentmindedly, feeling weak and shaky your stomach let out a loud grumble, reminding you that you hadn’t eaten a single morsel all day. Such a reminder wasn’t needed on your part, you felt as though you were wasting away but you simply hadn’t found the time to eat anything. You’d been rushed off your feet and honestly with this being hell you weren’t overly sure if you were feeling hunger or if it were your punishment for being an absolute glutton when you were alive. The thought nearly makes you laugh. 

Your grumbling stomach was such a distraction you hadn’t noticed that you were being gently tugged from your seat until you shook your head, shaking away the daze, you see Charlie and Vaggie, Charlie is gently pulling you toward the kitchen you stumble behind here letting her pull you along and Vaggie is giving you a gentle smile. 

“You should have told us you were hungry, hun” Vaggie says softly her gentle smile never fading. You felt a little silly but honestly, you hadn’t asked for anything because you really didn’t think you were going to need food, come on, you’re dead, right? So why would it matter if you ate or not? 

You let out a small laugh that was comprised of nothing but nervous energy because you were heading into the space that Alastor was currently occupying and you didn’t need to give him another reason to irritate you. Entering the kitchen once again, Alastor seems to be back to cooking humming a tune to himself and you know that he knew you were there, whether he simply chose to ignore you was something you weren’t sure of. 

Fallowing you in was Angel and Husk who immediately sat in the seats that they had occupied the night before as did Vaggie and Charlie. You honestly thought about doing musical chairs for a minute and instead of sitting in the seat you had sat in yesterday you had the choice of Niffty’s or Alastor’s. 

Simply because you wanted to see everyone’s reaction you practically jumped into Niffty’s seat, secretly hoping she wouldn’t mind. You peeked in her direction and felt instantly relieved as she giggled and sat in your previous seat. You were now sandwiched between Charlie and Niffty which was nice. 

Angel looked as though he were about to roll his eyes and Husk actually did while muttering something about being a child under his breath but you didn’t really care if it seemed childish. When you were alive your family made a point to never sit in the same seat every night while we ate lest we get too comfortable by sitting in the same seat, your father told you that it was to signify that in a family home or a shared home nothing is solely yours unless it resides in your personal space. 

Vaggie gave you a nod of the head as if she approved of your choice of seat and Charlie simply gave you the biggest and happiest smile you’d ever seen. You grinned back and immediately fell into conversation with Niffty. She was so easy to talk to it gave you hope for the amount of time you were about to spend with her, you suppose it’s a good thing she’s sweet. 

She starts telling you about all the odd jobs that you would be helping her out with now that you had agreed to be officially part of the hotel staff, not that you felt like you’d really had much of a choice in the matter, you thought bitterly. But seeing Niffty getting all excited because you were helping her out you felt renewed. 

Niffty’s eye seemed to enlarge and skip about the table when she got excited, it was adorable and unnerving at the same time it made you want to remind her to blink once in a while, but she seemed pleased enough that you agreed to help and soon conversation broke out over the table topics like politics, life before our untimely deaths and even common interests we discussed. 

But it was inevitable that an argument would happen at some point we had been discussing music and how different it had been in the times that you’d all lived in but when the topic turned to what all of your personal preference was it took a tense turn. You found that both you and Vaggie had very similar music tastes, but whereas you were open to suggestions Vaggie disliked a lot of pop music and clubbing music. 

Which just happened to be a few favourites of Angel’s, since he’d died, he’d listened to a lot of recent music and he really liked pop, they argued quite intensely about it for a good few minutes before it started getting rather violent. It surprised you a little to see Angel getting so agitated because Vaggie’s choice in music wasn’t ‘lively’ enough. Vaggie didn’t like that his choice in music was all based around love, break-ups and sex. 

Angel, it seemed, couldn’t take criticism. The argument got ridiculous simply because Vaggie had said “I don’t know how you can listen to that crap it’s all exactly the same, at least my taste has a range of different” that was it. Angel _lost his shit._

Honestly, you couldn’t keep yourself from laughing Charlie looked worried Niffty was rolling her eye continuously you thought she might get dizzy at some point but nope, she looked at you and whispered: “get a load of this guy” while gesturing her thumb at him and shaking her head, Husk was practically drowning in alcohol at this point. 

You, however, couldn’t' breathe for a different reason honestly you’d never seen two people argue so seriously over something that simply did not matter. “You have no taste! What are you _talking_ about!?” Angel yells leaping up from his seat he towered over Vaggie and he was waving his arms around wildly, it just made you laugh harder. He looked like a spider on a hot plate, all wriggly and extremely hilarious. 

You looked at Charlie she was frowning slightly and she looked as though she were about to break it up and you decide that enough was enough “Guys” you say while trying to get your breath back it’s hard to get enough people’s attention while you’re laughing let alone have them take you seriously. Wiping tears from your eyes they either didn’t hear you or didn’t care you clear your throat and try again “Guys!” They stare at you in shock for a minute. 

You shake your head with a grin “It’s just music, everyone has their own opinion, no one opinion is right, can we please just let this one go?” You say calmly honestly, they were starting to bare similarities to your family, although Vaggie bared more similarity to you when you were alive, somehow you feel that you were different now. 

But Angel reminded you of your brother, Michael, the only one you liked, he was bisexual, but because of your Father he was never able to ‘come out’ so instead he had come to you and although you two fought like cat and dog sometimes, you would have done anything for him, you think his betrayal hurt the most. 

While you were lost in thought, _again_ , Angel sat back down in a huff you blink a few times before realizing that someone was tapping your shoulder lightly. Charlie gives you an appreciative look and mouths a simple ‘ _thank you.'_

You smile back and nod slightly knowing that another fight was the last thing she needed to end the night on especially about something as petty as music taste. Silence settled around the dinner table; it was comfortable _at first,_ but it started becoming more and more uncomfortable as time went on, you realize that you hadn’t heard a peep out of Alastor for the whole ordeal. In fact, he was being suspiciously quiet, you couldn’t even hear him shuffling around at the stove behind you. 

You turn your head to look behind you and you see him leaning over the kitchen isle with his head in his hands, an amused smile on his face, his eyes meet you’re and his grin widens “ever the peacemaker are we, my dear?” He asks and though you weren’t going to dignify that with an answer you got this feeling that it was rhetorical, he turns back to the stove so that you’re left staring at his back for a few minutes before turning back to the table. 

Of course, he had been listening to a fight between two people that lived in the same building was about as much entertainment as you could get in a situation like this. The tell-tale feel of the static against your skin was enough to leave you feeling creeped out, you felt like you needed another shower the feeling was odd and unwelcomed. 

It made you want to rake your skin off with your sharpened nails and though you tried to refrain from doing that, from time to time you found yourself unconsciously scratching away at yourself, quite harshly. You honestly thought you’d have to sit on your hands if you didn’t learn a modicum of control over them. 

Your eyes shifted around the table nervously, in a desperate attempt to find someone to talk to, you needed a distraction or you really were going to rid yourself of your skin you caught Vaggie’s eye and she seemed to know that you were feeling uncomfortable. “So, you’re gonna be helping Niffty out tomorrow? Do you need clothes to work in?” She asks and you heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Uh, yeah, I think so?” You say, truthfully you hadn’t given it any thought what so ever, and now that you were, in fact, thinking about it you realised that you still had that t-shirt, they’d given you but you weren’t sure what their full uniform entailed or if they even had one. 

You bite your lip before asking “uh, I still have the t-shirt you gave me do I need anything else in particular?” This time Vaggie looks at Charlie, who simply shakes her head, before replying “Nah the t-shirt should be fine, wear some comfortable pants, you know something don’t mind getting dirty” you nod you had plenty of comfortable clothing now thanks to Charlie. 

“Don’t worry too much about uniform though honestly as long as your comfortable it’s not going to make a difference.” Charlie chimes in patting your hand you smile “okay, thanks.” You’d never been more grateful to have run into an irritable moth demon more than you were right now, you suppose it’s really only happened the once and it’s the only experience that you’d had of such a scenario. But it had been overwhelmingly positive. 

You didn’t know where you’d be without those two “Dinner’s ready!” You nearly fucking shit yourself, you bit the inside of your cheeks to keep yourself from screaming, the recognizable irritatingly obnoxious voice had come from right behind you but you hadn’t noticed his approach, you really need to focus on listening to everything and not just when someone is talking. 

Honestly, this shit is just relentless, but you had to admit you were a little excited to eat some food. However, just like yesterday night a select few around the table namely Vaggie, Husk, Angel and, you had to admit, yourself looked a bit perturbed. The overwhelming smell of spices in the air was making your mouth water, from what you could tell you’d be eating something with tomatoes in it, maybe Bolognese? 

This seemed like an exact re-run of last night, Vaggie was eyeing him sceptically, Husk was just full out glaring at the guy, Angel was twitching in his seat as if all he wanted to do was leg it out of this room and just be far away from here and you couldn’t agree more, an escape from this uncomfortable static would be very much welcomed. “ _Ladies first_ ” Alastor’s voice came from above due to the massive height difference, you felt completely dwarfed if you hadn’t been sat down the height wouldn’t have looked so dramatic. He set the plate in front of you. 

You were right, it was Bolognese, there were herbs sprinkled on top of the sauce, the spaghetti was perfectly cooked, you could practically taste the garlic already, you secretly hoped he hadn’t put too many onions in the sauce because you hated onions with a burning passion. As you inspect your food closely you could feel him literally breathing down your neck once more making ever more uncomfortable. 

You could feel his eyes on you but you refused to look at him you were already apprehensive as it was, you didn’t need to look at him to feel more jittery. Still, like last night, you whispered a small thank you and he moved on to Niffty, and Charlie and finally Vaggie. “Next is our effeminate fellow” he announces with a huge grin like he’d just told an amazing joke. 

Angel let out an offended ‘ _HEY_ ’ but it was too late, not to mention it fell on deaf ears, Alastor had already moved on with the last two plates in either hand. He sets one down in front of Husk while saying “and lastly us gentlemen” he sits in his own seat putting his plate down resting his elbows either side of the dish and interlocking his fingers he rests his chin on the top of his hands and glances around the table. 

It seemingly took a minute before realization flashed in his eyes for a single moment, you were sat almost opposite Husk, but with the table being round it was difficult to be sat opposite anyone to be completely honest. You were still inspecting your food and you weren’t the only one, it nearly made him laugh but that’s not what he’d originally noticed. 

But that’s not the point, Alastor had realized that you had switched seats with Niffty who was happily shovelling food into her mouth as fast as she could Charlie had also started eating. And again, just like last night, the others joined in with three exceptions, Vaggie, Alastor and yourself. What the others couldn’t see was your knee bouncing up and down under the table, that’s where most of your nerves were centred right now, to force you to stop fidgeting at the table. 

Every time your eyes flicked up to search the others at the table you always managed to catch Alastor staring at you, it was making your skin crawl and he wasn’t even making an effort to hide it every time you clapped eyes with him he’d give you this little head tilt, or a huge smile, or something along those lines. Like he was waiting for you to do something, what? You had no idea but he was waiting for something and you felt like he’d be waiting until he got what he wanted. 

Alastor’s smile twitched and settled into something less enthusiastic as it had been prior, that is to say, close-lipped. He hadn’t noticed when he had been serving the food but you had apparently played musical chairs with Niffty. It _bothered_ him to no end, _being a creature of habit and all_. 

Vaggie had been watching him stare at you the moment he had settled into his strange pose. She watched as you eventually and very slowly began eating and from that alone she could tell that you were trying to ignore the scrutinizing gaze that stubbornly refused to shift from you. Vaggie hadn’t realized that something so simple would bother him so much. Seriously, something as simple as you sitting in a different seat made him annoyed to the point of silently fuming. 

She almost laughed, but instead, she stared at him shifting to sit back in her seat and folding her arms across her chest she clears her throat. His head whips around to look in her direction at the sound, she forces down the chill that threatens to run amok over her body, just by the creepy-ass look he’s giving her alone, one that would have surely left goosebumps on her flesh like a treacherous submission. 

No, she would not submit to her fear of him, not now, not ever. “Is there a problem with your food, dear, is it not to your liking?” He asks tilting his head mockingly innocent and noticing that she hadn’t touched the food on her plate yet, she swallows thickly glancing down at her dish before bringing her eyes back up to him. She can feel a sneer form on her face the clinking of metal knives and forks on pottery plates stopped, the table once again grew silent. _Tense._

“Do you have a problem with her or something? You can’t seem to stop staring at her.” She grounds out feeling defensive...no _protective_ was a far better word. His smile deepens and looks almost uncomfortably wide, it was a wonder that he had enough skin on his face for such a feat to be possible. “Maybe she’s just so pretty I simply cannot tear my eyes away?” He suggests knowing full well that was not the reason. 

Sugarcoating his words to make Vaggie’s rage look completely unnecessary, which just made her, all the more, hot-headed. No amount of soothing from Charlie was going to quell her rising anger, she clenches her fists under the table and watches as his grin turns from mockingly innocent to arrogantly smug and that just about does it. She jumps from her seat with full intent to give him a piece of her mind, almost like Ange had done earlier but a quiet timid voice stops her in her tracks. 

A shiver forces its way down your spine you just know an argument is going to blow over the table “Guys if we can’t talk nicely then maybe we should just eat in silence” You suggest somehow finding the confidence to speak without stuttering you were going to count that as one of your special skills because you’ve never been able to do that until now. Vaggie looked over at you with wide eyes and you discreetly flick your own over to Charlie who was looking equally as uncomfortable as you were. She was wringing her hands looking upset and distressed with turn this meal-time was taking. 

Vaggie gets the gist nodding half-heartedly before taking her seat once again, she gently squeezes Charlie’s knee under the table to comfort her. She picks up a fork and starts picking at her food with a mildly annoyed expression. You take a risk and sneak a peek at Alastor whose eyes shoot to yours in mere seconds almost like he had been expecting you to glance in his direction. 

He offers you a very large, closed-eyed, head tilted smile before returning to his plate as well, Husk was gawking at you bug-eyed he leans over the table just a little and whispers “how’d you get him to do that?” He’s jutting a clawed thumb at the red nuisance next to him, he had been amazed that you’d gotten him to stop being an ass but, honestly, he just wanted to piss the prick off a little. 

You look at Alastor who’s still eating his food almost _obediently_ , and really you didn’t know that you’d actually done anything. It’s not like you barked out a command or anything it was just a simple request you turn to answer Husk only for your eyes to widen... _wait a fucking second!_

You glance back over at Alastor, _something’s different,_ a little voice whispers it over and over again in your head and your, almost, glowing green eyes are flitting frantically over his form, what is it?! Your attention is drawn to a slight twitch at his head if you hadn’t been actively looking for something different you wouldn’t have noticed it at all. But now that you sat and watched it still, your jaw nearly dropped. 

The tufts of hair on the top of his head had twitched and it’s only now that you realize one of those tufts is pivoted in your direction, those _are_ his ears! 

You had made a big mistake in thinking that maybe he had no noticeable ears, like Charlie and Vaggie you thought maybe his hair was hiding them but no, you had already seen them he was just good at controlling them. Really, it annoyed you, you were frustrated that you hadn’t jumped to that conclusion sooner, of course, they were fucking ears you dipshit! You felt slightly jealous of the amount of control he obviously had over his own body. 

Now that you could see that he was actively listening to you, waiting for your reply, you just knew you’d have to filter your mouth something that you weren’t particularly great at. But you were nothing, if not, determined, determined not to die a second time, if that’s even possible. Well, you suppose you’re sure it could but you get this feeling that it’s not easy to kill another demon. 

You look back at Husk with wide and cautious eyes and finally reply “How’d I get him to do what?” You say as cluelessly as you can Husk raises an eyebrow and your eyes flick back to Alastor’s pivoted ear. Husk seems to realise that he’s listening and doesn’t much like it, he’s so over this asshole thinking he can just listen in on everyone’s conversations and interject himself whenever he likes. 

“We’re talking about you, not to you, ass hole” he mutters pushing his plate away deciding that he’d had enough he’d picked his food apart to the point where it looked like a messy dissection. You faintly hear Angel snickering next to him “Ah yes but it’s also very rude to talk about someone when they’re present, don’t you think Husker my good friend?” Alastor looks up at him expectantly. 

He’d abandoned his previous pose a short while go but he was still sat exceptionally straight in his seat, his posture was perfect and elegant, it made you wonder what he thought of you, Vaggie and Husk, all three of you slouching in your seats looking crumpled as if you were being forced forward by some kind of weight. 

Husker mutters something along the lines of ‘ _does it look like I give a shit?_ ’ But the doesn’t seem to faze the Radio Demon as his attention settles on you “I’m sure our lovely little darling here would agree.” Your blood turns cold under his gaze, you didn’t want to answer that question mostly because part of you agrees with him but another part of you also really doesn’t care, it’s something you’d grown up with, people are bound to talk about you whether it be behind your back or to your face so really, what’s the difference? 

Your eyes wander around the table Niffty’s cradling her food baby, in other words not interested in the current topic of conversation at all. Husk and Vaggie looked as though they wanted you to outwardly disagree. But Charlie’s kind, yet apologetic, eyes and Alastor’s doctor evil smile made you want to instantly agree just so you could all move on with the evening. 

If you had been at home, and _alive,_ which you most assuredly were not your overbearing, dickhead of a father would have scolded you for thinking so long about such an obvious reply he was a huge hypocrite though so what did he know? 

You almost went with a non-committal shrug neither a yes nor a no but hesitation was clutching at your tongue like a cruel joke you sigh “do we have to do this?” You say looking around the table you see confused stares, “I just want to get along with you guys for a few hours, is that really too much to ask?” Vaggie, Angel and Husk look almost ashamed twiddling their fingers. 

You look down at your dish, half-eaten and picked at within an inch of its life, and bear it in mind you hadn’t eaten all day, but you couldn't eat another bite you’d lost all energy and appetite looking back up at them. “Are we all really so incapable of having a conversation without arguing?” You don’t get a reply “I think that for mealtimes, just mealtimes, we should at least _try_ to avoid arguing.” 

Charlie had never felt so proud looking at another demon you had, _incredibly_ , gotten a table full of bickering demons to listen to you, even Vaggie looked stunned. She wanted to hug you but more importantly, she wanted to ask you how you did it! She’d never met another demon that didn’t like arguing most of them enjoyed it, they started fights because it was fun to irritate others. 

“It’s the only time of the day that we’re all in such close proximity to each other and the more arguing there is between us, the more likely we are to start destroying things, we’re gonna create more, unnecessary, work for each other” You had always tried to be the peacekeeper in your own home it rarely ever worked but that didn’t mean you stopped trying it just meant you tried harder. 

Charlie starts to nod enthusiastically “yeah, I agree, in fact, I’m making it a rule,” she says standing from her seat everyone's eyes were on her “from now on there will be no arguing at mealtimes, the minute an argument starts at meal times there will be consequences, however, if you’re able to stick to the rule there will be rewards for everyone!” She declares. 

You’re almost surprised there’s a few groans coming from Angel and Husk, Vaggie’s giving Charlie a proud look happy that she was finally starting to put rules in place for the others to follow. Niffty’s looking more excited than ever, it seemed even she was desperate for the arguing to stop and Alastor was looking _mischievous_ like he was plotting all the ways he could destroy this rule for the others. 

You decided to take it upon yourself to warn the others in secret, just in case he planned on annoying those who were more susceptible to arguing such as, Husk, Angel and maybe Vaggie, although you were equally argumentative sometimes, that he could very well be planning to make this difficult for them. You decided you’d tell them tomorrow. 

Vaggie decides to take the stunned silence as a moment to speak “Speaking of mealtimes, it seems some of us get hungrier than others I propose that we have at least three meals a day so that none of us are going hungry just because they’re waiting for the others.” To this everyone seemed to agree. 

You felt slightly embarrassed because you just knew she’d added this rule so that you wouldn’t go hungry. You reminded yourself to thank her later. You sat back in your seat and looked around the table pleasant conversations had sparked up, Vaggie and Charlie were chatting quietly about how to enforce the two new rules. 

Angel was actually quiet as was Husk who believe it or not looked as though he were about to drop into the great abyss you call sleep you were a little jealous that he could look so peaceful and so close to the edge of sleep. Niffty was talking with Alastor, which was fucking weird they were both as equally as excitable as the other but Niffty was far less creepy and she only has one eye so that’s saying something. 

You noticed that everyone had stopped eating, you decided that since Alastor had cooked for everyone, that you would wash the dishes it was only fair that you all divided up the chores in the kitchen when it came to mealtimes. You get up from your seat and start going around collecting the other dishes skilfully. It was a familiar feeling. 

For every dish you picked up a quiet thank you was mumbled in your direction before continuing back to their conversation or whatever it was Angel was doing, that is, until you reached Alastor and Niffty. Alastor looked up as his plate was lifted from the table and a single eyebrow quirked up into a quizzical look. 

Never the less, he thanks you in his usual loud and eccentric way, the static weirdly wrapping around your arms at this point and as your about to reach for Niffty’s plate her hand gently stops you “would you like me to do it?” She asks it was sweet of her to offer but you were sure she’d been busy all day with literally the entire hotel. 

You shake your head reaching for her plate again “It’s fine, you relax and continue chatting, I got this” You reply quietly you take the dishes to the sink and start cleaning. You couldn’t shake the familiar feeling that was washing over you. You close your eyes for a minute allowing the feeling to overtake you and when you open them again, you’re somewhere else it’s familiar and well lit, you’re completely lost in memory. 

_Looking around the restaurant you click your tongue in annoyance, it was busier tonight, though with it being so close to Christmas you weren’t surprised. Customers were chatting loudly, their voices scrambling over each others in a desperate effort to be heard._

_It was so loud you could barely hear yourself think, you were walking away from an empty table with used dishes in your hand dodging other tables and customers all while checking if other tables needed attention whilst on your way to the kitchen. The restaurant was short-staffed today it was a miracle that you were even able to open. So, you had been rushed off of your feet you were the only waitress today._

_By the end of your shift, you felt tired, your feet were killing you, your lower back was aching. Heck, you had squatted down so many times to pick up things that others and yourself had dropped your thighs were burning. Never had you done so much exercise in one day!_

_You were lucky it was near closing time, no new customers were coming in, not that there were any more aloud in, and the ones that were here were finishing up and paying their bills. You spent a lot of time cleaning the tables and preparing them for tomorrow that by the time you had finished, it was the end of your shift. Time to go home._

_You almost didn’t want to, it’s not exactly like you were going to be able to relax there or anything. Yet, feeling melancholy and exhausted you head to your locker pack up your things and head out. You turn to your boss who was counting the money at the till behind the bar and shout “Am I in again tomorrow, Mike?!” He looks up._

_It takes him a minute to respond, it usually did if he was in the middle of something, he always found it difficult to reorganize his thoughts “uh, no?” He says with a lilt in his voice before adding more surely this time “no, I think Maria’s in tomorrow she can handle that shift, you get some rest, and say hey to your dad for me, yeah?” He smiles and you nod. You leave the big double doors and deflate into the cool winter_ _night._

“Hey!” You jump looking to your right you see Vaggie holding a towel waiting to dry the dishes you’re supposed to be cleaning she raises her eyebrows and flexes her fingers in a fashion that says ‘ _give it_ ’ you shake your head and hand her the dish you were cleaning and move onto the next. 

You both settle into a nice routine; she nudges you with her elbow softly to get your attention when you look at her in response, she sends a quick glance over her shoulder before turning back to you “are you okay?” She whispers “you seemed to be thinking about something super hard” she adds equally as quiet. 

You glance over your own shoulder at Alastor you look at his hears, you briefly notice that Niffty should be talking his ears off and is, but just as you suspected they’re both pivoted toward you and that’s all you needed to know. You look back at Vaggie who had followed your line of sight and was glaring at said demon. 

“I need to talk to you and Charlie...alone” You whisper back and discreetly you gesture in his direction hoping that she would understand, thankfully she does and she nods her head at you. You’re glad that you had met her first, it made you wonder what she was like when she was alive, or more so what she might have looked like but as it is you will always be left wondering. 

You both fall quietly back into your previous routine and once you’d finished cleaning the dishes and cutlery you put them all back in their respective cupboards and draws. Turning around you see that the table had grown quiet all of them looking at you and Vaggie, which confused the hell out of you. 

You look at Vaggie for some answers but she looks equally as confused as you do, much to your disappointment. Surveying the table again you see no reason for them to be staring at you guys it was making you feel fidgety. Was there something on your face? 

“Well I’ll be damned, well I guess technically I am, but damn Vaggie I didn’t know you did anything around here, babe!” Angel burst out laughing as if he’d made some amazing joke and just like that the nice calm mood that had been shared between the seven of you earlier was ruined. Oh, for fuck sake can this guy not go five minutes without making a comment that’s bound to annoy someone? _The answer is apparently not!_

Vaggie was becoming a ball of infuriated energy next to you and before she could whip up a great comeback, simply because it was Vaggie you knew it would be equally as irritating as Angel's remark, you place a hand on her shoulder she gives you a grumpy look before deflating letting go of the irritation she felt. Which, in all honesty, you were impressed by. 

You sigh and turn to Angel with a somewhat pleading look “please Angel...” you trail off knowing you wouldn’t have to continue “oh come on, we’re not eating anymore-” He opens his arms out wide as if to show you that there was no more food in front of them “I’m aware but are you or are you not still sat at the table?” You ask crossing your arms you felt like you were talking to a child. 

Your brother would do this too, act out either for attention, or because he simply couldn’t act nice toward certain members of the family, like dad for example. Angel mimics you crossing his arms as well, both sets, “yeah so?” He questions... _pouting_ he was _pouting_ like a child. 

You smile “Just not at the table, okay, you can start insulting anyone you like when we’re all agreed that mealtime is over” and not giving him chance to reply you glance up at the clock on the grossly painted yellow wall behind Niffty and Alastor “and I think now would be a great natural stopping point, Charlie, Vaggie can I talk to you two in private please?” You ask in a rush. 

You’re honestly flabbergasted that what had said came out in a coherent sentence considering that you hadn’t stopped to take a breath really this new skill of yours would have come in handy if you were still alive, but that ship has long since sailed. They both nod before following you out of the room leaving the others to ponder, and basically bully, each other at will. 

You lead them up the stairs and to their room, Charlie immediately allowed you inside as if their room was your room and vice versa. She was slightly worried about what it was you wanted to talk about having not known you very long it could be a large number of things and she just didn’t know how to act. Once they’d sat down on their bed you stood, awkwardly wandering around, pacing if you will “Uh so I guess you’ve both realized that at least twice today I’ve, sorta’, zoned out and stuff” You start of clumsily. _This is going well..._

You always found it difficult to express your thoughts and feelings, you always kept those bottled up and to yourself because you were almost positive that the people in your life simply couldn’t help you. _You couldn’t help it_. They nod silently waiting for you to finish trying to explain your thoughts, you were thankful that they weren’t jumping down your throat trying to figure out what had gotten you so distracted lately. Because you knew they must be eaten up with worry and curiosity by now. 

“Well, I’ve kinda’ been having flashbacks from my life” you finish tucking a strand of hair back and realizing that your ears were now too far up on your head for you to hook it round them. Damn! Now that’s a habit you’re gonna struggle to quit it was something you did when you were nervous or feeling shy it honestly reminded you of when Mike introduced you to Dave who, soon after said meeting, became your boyfriend for most of high school, you remember those years fondly. 

It’s quiet for a bit until Vaggie stands up and cradles your elbows with her hands rubbing her thumbs lightly across the bone that jutted out at the side slightly. She gives you a soft smile that makes the corner of her eye crinkle just a little, “It’s okay, niña, I had those too” You felt relief surge through your whole body, relief that you weren’t the only one because you really didn’t want to be some special fruitcake, ever. Being the 'special fruitcake' was never a good thing! 

You felt weak and strong all at once like your bones had turned to jelly, Charlie nods “It’s true she had them a lot when we first met, if you ever need to talk to us about them you know our door is always open” it was such a kind offer Vaggie lets go of your arms and sits back down “do you wanna’ talk about them now?” She asks. 

You think about it for a minute but to be honest, you needed time to process it before talking about it, you shake your head “can I talk to both about them sometime tomorrow?” You ask Charlie smiles kindly “of course you can” You nod and quickly tell them goodnight they respond in much the same way. You leave their room feeling far better than you had when you had left the kitchen. 

The walk to you room was quick and thought-provoking, you had determined that now that you knew Alastor had been tuning into, most likely, all of your conversations you were going to have to train yourself to learn restraint and to actually use your huge ass ears for once. You could only imagine how much you’d be able to hear if you just focused. 

But for now, you need to sleep, you open your bedroom door, you quickly change into your most comfortable pyjamas and flop onto your bed, after struggling with the covers you finally fall into what should have been peaceful sleep, _if only_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading I hope you like this chapter! As always if you spot any mistakes please don't hesitate to let me know so I may amend them. 
> 
> Thanks again!


	4. Working Nine to Five? What a way to make a livin’!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's your first day on the job at the Hotel, it was going really well...at first. But if Alastor has his way, you'll be dead by exhaustion before the day even comes to an end. His reign of terror is beginning now you're not only looking out for you but the others too.
> 
> Are you gonna be able to do this alone or are you going to need help? If you do then who will you turn to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Slight Editing📢 This chapter is slightly edited, so if it reads different and seems a little longer this is why.

In your dream, you had seen them once again, in the setting where everything had gone down. 

_The cold factory had been closed, locked up tight, for a very good and obvious reason it_ ** _was_** _the middle of the night. You had left the house, technically it was a mansion but there’s no need to quibble over such insignificant detail. You’d lived a comfortable life big whoop it didn’t mean you were happy it just meant you had nothing to ask for. Money doesn’t make happiness and it certainly doesn't make traumatic memories_ _disappear_ _._

_You had left because your family’s secret weighed heavily on your shoulders, but as you had stared into their eyes, while your own father held you by your neck over the toxic waste, contained and waiting for removal, you could see his lips moving. You could hear his gruff voice dancing at the edge of your hearing but the words were distorted._

_It’s true that when he had dropped you into that container, he had been talking but for some reason, you couldn’t remember what he’d said. He stops speaking, you can practically feel his hands, flexing, around your throat as if you were living through it all over again._

_He lets you fall and this time you don’t scream you just wait for the familiar burning sensation to grip you once more, air, whipped through your long brown hair, it felt so real._

Your body jolts and your eyes fly open, a scream catches painfully in your throat but never makes its way out, you jump into an upright position. Your eyes search your room frantically for any sign of foul play, your heart was racing, it felt like a steam hammer in your chest. You’d half expected to wake up in your own bed back home but, of course, that was never going to happen. 

You were sweaty and shaky; your hands were clammy. Your incredibly long and rather irritating hair was sticking to your face and the back of your neck. Even your new pyjamas were clinging to you uncomfortably making you feel even sweatier. Your body was currently a tangled mess in your bedsheets, you felt smothered. _You felt disgusting._

Daylight was blaring through your only window on the right-hand side of your bed, but as far as you could tell there was no sun, at least not that you could see. The anxious feeling started to ebb away into something more... _melancholy_ , you missed the sound of bird song in the mornings. It was something that had once calmed you but you knew there would be no comforting respite in hell. 

You felt like the longer you stayed sat in your bed staring wistfully out of your window the more you would want to cry. You really didn’t want to start your first _workday_ at the hotel with red puffy eyes or any tell-tale signs that you hadn’t slept well. You knew it some of the others would ask anyway but you didn’t need.. _him_ pestering you about it. 

The last thing you needed was for him to have ammunition that could make you feel either more uncomfortable or more useless than you already felt. You push your hair away from your face and lift as much of it as you could off of your neck to allow some air to cool you down. 

You eventually give in and slink over to the bathroom; you needed a shower you most definitely couldn’t work feeling as sweaty and gross as you did. You start the shower and peel off your pyjamas, a reminder that maybe you should start wearing nightgowns for a little while, quickly. You gently brush through your hair with your new hair-brush to rid it of any tangles because those are a pain to untangle when your hair is wet. 

The minute you step into the cool shower it takes your breath away instantly making you gasp but immediately cools you down and makes you feel far better than you had not minutes go. Your worries flowed down to the tips of your toes before leaving with the water down the drain. 

You let out a sigh rolling your shoulders to relieve the tension that had settled there, your hair lengthened by far too much the wetter it got you washed it with the lavender-scented shampoo and conditioner rinsing both times. Before using the mint-scented body wash that made your skin tingle. You take your time when it comes to washing your shoulders massaging them to relive the tense little knots. 

The smell was so prominent that it forced you to wake up more, your skin felt alive and clean... _finally!_ It was a pleasant feeling but you didn’t leave it on too long because it was starting to make your eyes water a little. You turn off the water and step out of the tub quickly grabbing a towel you pat yourself dry. 

Absentmindedly, you wander back into your room and start searching for your work t-shirt and some comfortable pants, throwing on some grey jogging bottoms because they were the most comfortable item of clothing you’d gotten, you throw your hair up into a messy bun. 

_Because fuck trying to blow dry that shit!_ You shove on your t-shirt, messing up your hair a little more a few strays falling and framing your face. You also shove on some trainers you probably wouldn’t need them but you’d hate to step on something sharp while cleaning and in this hotel, such an outcome seemed increasingly likely. _Especially is Husk starts throwing beer bottles around again._

There were a few sharp knocks on your door before it practically burst open and a blur whizzed by you nearly knocking you flying. What the...? You look around trying to keep an eye on this blur until it stops right in front of your face, Niffty, your new work partner was bouncing up and down looking incredibly excited. Yet so freaking adorable! 

You were worried that somehow, she would eventually explode into a pile of rainbow glitter because of how animated she got but she never did. You raise an eyebrow as she beams up at you, she doesn’t say a word. “Niffty, is everything okay?” You ask cautiously, holding back a grin, she shakes her head filtering the stars from her singular eye she focuses on you again with a more determined look. 

You almost feel afraid, what could she possibly have planned for your first day on the job? “Oh, I’m just here to tell you what we’re going to be doing, of course!” She squeals “I do so love cleaning, it’s so very relaxing” she gushes. You smirk you could not have been paired with a more enthusiastic work partner. 

You were grateful because, in the long run, this would give you something to focus on rather than sitting around twiddling your thumbs. You let Niffty grab one of your hands and pull you down the hallway, you followed her down the hallway looking much like a crumpled paper cup, bent at the waist and stumbling the whole way. There were multiple paintings on the walls that you hadn’t really taken much notice of when you first arrived. 

Of course, you knew they were there, you weren’t blind. You just hadn’t paid a huge amount of attention to them, some of them were of Charlie when she was younger, some of them were of Charlie and her family. You would have stopped to admire them more, Charlie’s mother was a beautiful woman, elegant. Her father was much shorter than her mother but not much shorter than she was. 

He looked eccentric, like the type of guy to play a prank on someone but take it way too far. He and his wife looked like complete polar opposites but maybe that’s why it worked? Niffty’s insistence on dragging you around made it difficult to admire the art but also made you want to laugh. 

Looking down at the cute little cyclops you felt overcome with the urge to ruffle her hair but you refrain for the time being as she starts talking “so first we’re gonna’ be cleaning the Lobby, you know, sweeping, dusting, polishing and all that jazz” you both reach the top of the lobby stairs Vaggie and Angel are nowhere to be seen. 

Husk is stood behind the bar looking grumpy as ever, you giggle quietly to yourself, if Husk ever smiles then, surely, pigs will fly. Charlie was stood off to the side with Alastor chatting away. You tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes on you, you had to because you were already starting to feel self-conscious. 

You had noticed his eyes on you the minute you and Niffty reached the stairs. Your body felt as if it were going numb under his gaze but your name being called in a sing-song voice lifted your worries slightly. Charlie bounced up to the bottom of the stairs waiting for you and Niffty to descend. Her excitement could rival Niffty’s which was amazing since Niffty seemed excited all the damn time. 

You look at Niffty and as much you wanted to race her to Charlie you had to hold back because you knew you’d lose hands down but maybe you could do something equally as fun later you wonder what games you could both play? As your thoughts go a little off track Niffty jogs down the stairs which, compared to you, was a sprint. You simply stumble down the steps at your own pace not wishing to fall flat on your face, you hadn’t fallen down any stairs when you were alive you weren’t about to break that winning streak now. 

You finally reach Charlie and she envelopes you in a hug, it’s sweet, you weren’t expecting it but you hug her back tightly. She steps back from you with a huge grin “I have something for you, my new valued employee!” She declares loudly her voice echo's around the room the static, that you refused to acknowledge earlier, increased in intensity slightly. 

You discreetly brush your hands over your arms to settle your discomfort, he was still staring at you watching the events unfold, but you try your best to ignore it. _You try to ignore the pit in your stomach opening like a crater._ Because if you don’t then that crater will swallow you whole, and quite frankly you had a lot of shit to do. 

You refocus your attention on Charlie and smile “oh?” You reply timidly she nods her head vigorously and then without warning whips out a plastic-looking card, practically shoving it in your face. You nearly jump back because you hadn’t expected that, you weren’t sure what you’d been expecting but that wasn’t it. 

It's so close to you that you have to lean back to actually be able to see it. It’s gold and had black apples scattered on it, it looks suspiciously like a credit card you tilt your head and raise an eyebrow, the question you want to ask never leaves your lips even as you part them with full intention to speak. 

Instead, a choked sound scratches its way out of the confines of your throat. Charlie rolls her eyes still grinning from ear to ear “what? Did you think you’d be working here and not getting paid? That’s ridiculous!” She exclaims as if it were obvious from the get-go that you’d be getting paid. Which it hadn’t been, you were living at the hotel you almost felt like you were mooching off of them. 

You hesitantly take the credit card and put it in your pants pocket and Charlie nods her head as if she had accomplished her mission before her expression turns serious and worried, she gently grabs your arms “are you hungry, do you need to eat or are you okay waiting for some of the others to wake up?” She asks. 

She must be referring to Angel because you knew damn well that if Charlie was up then so was Vaggie. “It’ll only be another half hour I swear, but if you can’t wait, I'm sure we could whip you up something quick” she rushes but you shake your head promptly “no it’s okay I can wait a little longer besides-” you stop abruptly looking at Niffty whose getting fidgety just waiting around for you. It nearly makes you laugh that girl seriously can’t stand still for two minutes, can she? 

“-I think Niffty’s eager to get to work.” You finish Charlie nods and then excuses herself before walking back over to Alastor. You watch her go and, after steeling your nerves, you glance at him, he’s still staring at you, a shiver runs up your back to the hairs on your neck before you can stop it. His smile is wide as per usual “Have a good first day, my darling employee” he calls before falling back into his previous conversation with Charlie. 

You don’t reply, you refuse to give him the satisfaction. Rolling your eyes, you turn back to Niffty who is now surrounded by cleaning supplies the smell of bleach violates your nose, the hairs there are practically singed off. You grimace the smell was strong; you were practically choking on it. When did she get all of this stuff? You’re back had only been turned for a few seconds, better yet where did she get all of this stuff? 

She barely hands you a broom, it’s far too big for her, she’s trying to force the handle up to you and after a few seconds of seeing her struggle, you take pity on her leaning down to grab the handle. You almost let out a full-on belly laugh, instead, you puff your cheeks out, she lets out a huff blowing away some of her hair from her face. She tells you what to start with and what to end with and you both set off to work. 

The minute you turn around to look at the huge Lobby you feel like you’ve made a mistake, a mistake involving caving to Charlie last night over this dumb fuckin’ job. Niffty managed to clean a large quantity of the hotel by herself and she was tiny, she barely reached your knees. You admired her determination for the job because you would have lost interest and stopped giving a shit if you had to do all of this alone. 

You lose yourself to your thoughts as you sweep, the TV offering some background noise the news as per usual, you wonder if Husk watched anything else other than the news and shitty sitcoms? The floor is so dusty, you think, having a split moment of clarity. How can this floor be so dirty? It’s not like you guys are getting loads of people wandering around in here. You sigh out loud. 

This is an activity that doesn’t feel familiar. It’s nice to do something that doesn’t remind you of your life, and it was such a simple job that it was offering you time to train your senses. You focused on listening; you could hear multiple footsteps some lighter than others, the TV and the subtle crackle this particular model made on the odd occasion, the sound of your broom scratching against the marble floor and Niffty polishing quietly behind you. 

You closed your eyes and expanded your hearing taking a moment to just breathe you block out everything else and you can hear so much more than you had expected to. You could hear Husk’s heavy breaths, five beating hearts all at different paces which, when you thought about it detail and envisioned them, grossed you the fuck out, you could hear light footfalls upstairs in the direction of Charlie’s room which was definitely Vaggie. 

Outside you could hear the occasional car, and other denizens walking past the hotel, you slowly open your eyes in amazement. You’d had a feeling you’d be able to hear more if you focused but you weren’t expecting to hear anything outside the hotel. 

You noticed that your hair rustled slightly when you were listening, which probably meant your ears were moving and twitching. You only hoped it wasn’t too noticeable. Because that could be a dead give-away if you’re trying to be discreet and all, lucky enough all you wanted right now was to practice. 

You and Niffty finished cleaning the Lobby in record time...apparently. The sound of dress shoes against the newly polished floor clings to your ears, and for the life of you, you can’t pray to God and Lucifer enough for it to not be who you expected it to be. _You_ _may be_ _damned but hell if you hadn’t earned a break!_

But the static in the air stirred to life and in an instant, your hopes crumbled, you try not to physically deflate as you set aside your broom, the static danced across your skin causing the hairs there to prickle it was light but attention-seeking. “ _HELLO!_ ” Alastor shouts obnoxiously while wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you against him again. 

You hold back a sigh, your shoulders tensed immediately his cheery smile vexed the hell out of you, _ironic right._ You tried to move away but the arm around your shoulders kept you firmly in place you were completely trapped. Was he for real? Did he do this when he was alive because if so, that’s even more worrying. A psychologist would have a fucking field day with this guy, and every poor fucker he interacted with, which right now just so happened to be you. 

With complete disregard on whether you wanted to or not he started walking toward the kitchen dragging you with him “my dear, I can’t very well let my employee’s work hungry!” He exclaims you can faintly hear Niffty protesting behind you both but it was falling on deaf ears, even though said ears were pointed toward you and you assumed they could hear very well. 

You didn’t need to glance up to know he was wearing an irritating smile, but when you did eventually look at him your breath caught in your throat... _had he been staring at you the whole time?_ It wasn’t one of his usual looks his eyes looked more intrigued than anything. 

Talk about creepy you didn’t know whether you should feel flattered or terrified. His eyes were slitted due to how large his smile was, you were surprised his whole face wasn’t consumed by it. It was a funny thought but scary imagery. You fight continuous quivers that threatened your body. 

In the kitchen the table was already set up, a cloth had been placed over the flat surface, the cutlery and plates were set and the smell of eggs and bacon along with other breakfast foods assaulted your senses. Your stomach grumbled loudly causing you to blush. 

You could have sworn that Alastor’s gigantic grin turned into a smirk, but if it had it had been far too quick for you to know for sure. You felt as though he was trying to annoy you. Oh... _oh._ Of course, so this is where it begins, with you? 

This is it, isn’t it? This is the start of his silly games to annoy the others and apparently you. You sigh as you’re dragged toward the table, he pulls out a chair and finally, if a little hesitantly, releases your shoulders before dramatically bowing gesturing for you to sit. So theatrical, he was both a good and a dreadful actor, some of the things he did made you want to crack a smile and other things he did either annoyed you or downright terrified you. You get the feeling that there’s no happy medium with this guy. 

“Shouldn’t we round up the others so they can join us?” You suggested, feeling awfully uncomfortable you weren’t exactly desperate to be alone with him. His smile grew to an impossible size “already taken care of, my dear” he replies before tapping a single gloved finger to the tip of your nose. Such an action should have been sweet and lovely, but it felt wrong coming from him. It felt like it meant something different to him. 

You could have died again then and there as he ushers you into your seat, you didn’t get to pick it which ultimately meant he had every intention of sitting next to you. To your relief Charlie waltzes in with Vaggie and the others in toe. You’d never been more relieved to be surrounded by other people in all your life, you puff out air through pouted lips as you watch them enter and Alastor hurry off toward the food. 

She looks surprised at first to see that you had gotten there before them but her excitable persona was back in seconds; she sits in her seat with Vaggie following soon after looking much less pleased, you were sure that is she had been capable of it she’d be pouting too. “Isn’t this wonderful! Alastor prepared it all himself” she cheered rubbing her cheeks in absolute delight. 

It seemed to rub Alastor’s ego, that fucking smile was never going away. You steal a glance at Vaggie she’s looking equally baffled but simply rolls her eyes, she’d obviously tried all she could to convince Charlie of his...well evilness? Angel, Husk and Niffty take their seats and start chatting, it’s going well so far, no arguments for a change Charlie had never looked prouder. 

But you, on the other hand, were doubtful Alastor started laying out dishes in the middle of the table in a fashion where everyone could pick out whatever they wanted. All you can eat style. The scepticism at the table never ceased and you doubt it ever would, it had become a permanent dining guest. Forever in the air when Alastor was around. 

As you assumed, he sat next to you and started plating up his own food, he looked a lot more relaxed than he had last night, followed by Charlie and Niffty who just couldn’t seem to wait. And just like last night he placed his elbows on the table, on either side of his plate, interlocked his clawed fingers and rested his head in his hands watching the table. 

You felt as though he were expecting everyone to start eating before starting himself. It seemed to make Angel and Husk so uncomfortable that they too started to grab what apparently looked edible. Vaggie stared you down looking mildly irritated she was glaring at the food which in all honesty smelt amazing. But you could understand her reluctance even you hadn’t made a move to pick up anything yet, your thoughts too preoccupied. 

You took a subtle breath and calmed your senses, you were listening but you were listening for something specific, heartbeats, as yucky as it sounded you had noticed earlier that you could hear them. At the time not everyone was in the room and you had been mildly curious to see if everyone’s heartbeats were different. Because the few you had heard had some irregularities. 

You had this feeling you could hone in on different sounds so keeping your concentration on Vaggie you honed in on her heartbeat. For a few minutes, you couldn’t hear it and you worried that maybe you were wrong until... 

_Bum, bum. Bum, bum._ It was calm and collected but for every two beats it skipped one you gasp quietly, or at least you thought it’s been quiet but apparently not “uh everything okay over there, toots?” You head whips up and your neck cracks painfully and you flinch bringing your hand up to rub the back of your neck Angel’s face contorts in disgust. 

As does most of the others Alastor however seems unaffected, you weren’t surprised he did it often enough you’d think you’d be used to it already, “ah fuck that hurt!” You exclaim Angel laughs loudly you ignore him and roll your neck trying to soothe the pain. 

Damn, that was _really_ painful. Angel shakes his head the table is quiet “what were ya ’ doing anyway? I mean that’s the only time I’ve seen ya ’ ears so still, babe” he asks curiously. _Oh shit!_ “Are they really that twitchy?” You question Angel nods as does Niffty. 

Husk shrugs you assume that he either doesn’t care or never noticed both are very likely possibilities. Vaggie and Charlie simply send you sympathetic smiles, you lean back into your seat feeling frustrated “so?” Angel pressed on curious to know what you were listening to so intently. 

You blink before remembering you hadn’t answered his question “oh, I’ve been trying to strengthen my hearing, having big ears means you can hear more, right? Well, I can definitely hear more” you mumble. You stare at your empty plate blankly. You wondered briefly if you should go into more detail but judging by the satisfied look he gives; you feel like there’s no need it would probably be better for you to keep this information to yourself anyway. 

“Aren’t you hungry?” Charlie asks you feel like shrugging but you don’t get the chance there’s a strange high-pitched sound, like a microphone getting too close to a speaker, followed by the static in the air becoming thick and threatening. You look up and Alastor’s eyes are on you he looks... _annoyed_? But you can’t tell, his smile is still present but it looks kinda forced. Like he’s trying really hard to be polite. 

His head is still planted on his hands “my dear, you really should eat I can practically hear your stomach begging for food, and you barely eat as it is!” He exclaims he had a point that and you didn’t want to worry Niffty by suddenly passing out on her. You were hungry sigh, defeated once again, you pick up a waffle and start picking it apart and chewing on bits of it. It tasted good, the sugar from the waffle was caramelized perfectly. 

You go back to listening it takes you a few minutes to realize that their heartbeats are all different, Niffty’s was erratic much like her, Charlie’s was calm but beat much less than the others it was slow almost like it didn’t need to work as hard, you suppose that made sense since she was born in hell her body would have less need for a heart. Husk’s was loud it was practically booming in your ears, you almost wished you turn down the volume. 

Angel’s skipped three beats but beat four beats in rapid succession, Alastor’s was so quiet you barely caught it two quiet, quick beats before skipping a single beat and repeating. You hum, committing them all to memory, now if you really listened to your surroundings, you’d be able to tell who was approaching you. Though with time you’d much rather learn what their walks sounds like, even in the differing varieties. 

You finally tune back into the room the others are talking but Alastor seems to have taken a thorough interest in watching you eat he hadn’t moved from his pose since he sat down you huff. All that talk about how you should be eating but he hasn’t touched the food on his plate either. What a hypocrite! 

“I was taught that it was rude to have your elbows on the dinner table when you’re eating,” you say smugly looking up you’d cut through conversations with such a random outburst but that’s what made it funny at least to you and though the comment was aimed at Alastor you didn’t look at him as if you were talking to him. Vaggie shoots you an amused smirk knowing exactly what you were doing, you smirk back. 

But Niffty jumps straight into the conversation agreeing with you and asking what else you remember being taught, things to do with manners of course. Meanwhile, even though you’re replying to Niffty, you’re eyeing Alastor actually you’re eyeing his elbows. 

He laughs removing them from the table “It’s good to know someone taught you manners, there are others at this table that could stand to learn from you, darling” he purred, reach our a clawed hand you don’t have time to react properly before he’s twirling a strand of your hair around a single finger dread settled into your stomach like an old friend. 

Husk and Vaggie look furious, Angel shoots you a sympathetic glance noticing your discomfort, Niffty’s gone back to eating and Charlie looks caught between optimistic and baffled. “Hey, dickhead, you’re makin’ the kid uncomfortable anyone with perfect eyesight can see that” Husk growls, _ah Husk forever your hero!_

You give him a grateful look as the hand that gasped your hair slowly lowered it’s not like he had hurt you but you weren’t sure what his intentions were and that’s not a good thing. “Like you Husker, my good friend, you could stand to learn something from our little darling fox here” Alastor announces leaning back in his seat looking very proud of himself. 

Husk practically growls, and you immediately realize what’s happening, you could curse yourself for not realizing it sooner “Husk don’t listen to someone who places their elbows on the table watches people eat, don’t take lessons on table manners from someone who doesn’t have any” you retaliate, you give him a look one that you hope tells him that he shouldn’t rise to the occasion. 

Husk huffs folding his arms, there’s no liquor for him to drown himself in so he just sits fuming in silence that was close an argument really could have broken out there. You try to catch Charlie’s eye and when you do you try to make a signal that this breakfast should end. She nods with a serious look. 

“Well everyone I think breakfast time is over you can all go back to doing whatever you were doing, we’ll let you know when lunch is ready” Charlie announces as everyone rises to leave, you stand quickly “if I could speak with Husk, Angel, Vaggie and Charlie privately that would be great” Husk and Angel look as though they’re about to protest. 

“It won’t take long I promise, please?” You beg, you needed to warn them about Alastor’s possible intentions, speaking of, “my, oh, my, more secret meetings Niffty and I are starting to feel excluded” he hints you hold back an irritated sigh “yeah well, this is nothing to concern yourself with, if it were, I would have asked you to stay.” But you really just wanted to tell him to piss off already. Whatever you could deal with it for now. 

You turn to Niffty “I’ll be with you in a minute, okay?” You reassure her and she nods enthusiastically and leaves the room without a word, Alastor passes his gaze over everyone in the room before his eyes settle on you, crow's feet from on the corners of his eyes as his smile is impish “Be quick dear, I have a job for you and Niffty once you’re finished” he says in a sing-song voice. 

He finally leaves taking his suffocating static with him, you listen to his footfalls outside the kitchen they lead toward the stairs and then stop. You frown and listen for his heartbeat but that’s gone too, did he just fucking up and disappear? No way. You don’t know if that’s creepy or cool, your inclined to think both you shrug assuming you’re safe, you turn to face the others with a grim expression. 

“Okay here’s the deal, I have a feeling that Alastor is going out of his way to irritate the most argumentative people here” Vaggie huffs “figures” she mutters “of course, he’s going to go out of his way to annoy us it’s entertaining to him” she adds crossing her arms looking miffed. Husk gives you this strange look, he’s raising an eyebrow and looking strangely quizzical “okay me, him, her and maybe even you-” he says pointing at himself, Angel Dust, Vaggie and you “I get, but _her_ ” he adds putting emphasis on the ‘her’ and pointing to Charlie. 

“I think she’s probably the most placid demon here” he finishes you nod you understand his confusion and you would have asked the same question perhaps you should have been clearer “yes but she owns this hotel, she enforces the rules I felt she should know just in case Alastor started to become difficult, so to speak.” Charlie nods in understanding a serious expression replacing her happy one. “Yeah well whata’ ya’ want us to do about it, toots?” Angel says holding his arms out. 

“Don’t feed into it, don’t fuel the fire, don’t argue with him, that’s what he wants he wants to be entertained, so don’t entertain him I understand it’s going to be hard but we really have to try.” You reply. You especially he seemed to be targeting you and you weren’t having any of it, he was going to have to work extremely hard to get a rise out of you, you’re the queen of ignoring people you were good at it when you were alive and something tells you that hasn’t changed. 

Husk shrugs but eventually nods, Angel sighs “sure thing, toots, anything to piss off that strawberry pimp” you laugh that’s the best name you’ve heard for him yet Angel grins sending you a cheeky wink, Vaggie nods too “I’ll try” you nod once glad that you’re all in agreement. You sigh realizing you had to go face him again. You put a brave and determined face on looking back up that them, they’re eyes are fixed on the kitchen door behind you knowing exactly where you’d had to go and eerily their eyes land on you once again, in unison. 

“Speak of the devil, I better go see what he wants” as you’re turning to leave Vaggie calls out to you, you stop mere inches from the door your hand resting gently on the handle, you turn your head back to look at her. "If he tries anything...or just let me know okay?” She looks anxious, she’s fidgeting and looking tense you send her a reassuring smile. 

You nod and exit the kitchen; the lobby is empty remnants of breakfast wafting around the room is the only evidence that anyone was even in this hotel. You had been expecting to see Niffty surrounded by her cleaning equipment waiting for you but she wasn’t. You study the lobby carefully but you don’t see any sign of her or that dreaded Radio Demon. 

You listen once more, carefully, you can hear two heartbeats upstairs, you knew exactly who they belonged to, let's just get this over with, you think bitterly. You stalk up the stairs as a foul mood starts to cloud over you, out the window the sky seemed to darken as much as it could, considering you couldn’t really see any clouds. 

It made you wonder if hell had a weather system if it did at the first sight of rain, you’re running out of the hotel to enjoy it, it’s been a while since you’d seen rain and you wanted nothing more than to get completely soaked in a thunderstorm or even just normal heavy rain. The further you walked down the corridor the louder their voices became Alastor was humming in reply to Niffty’s ramblings. 

There at the end of the hallway inside one of the unoccupied rooms, Alastor was glancing around peering at everything Niffty was pointing out his eyes were squinted. You huff and walk with purpose the sooner this is over with the sooner you could get away from him. You hoped anyway. 

Her footsteps were so heavy it was hard not to hear them, but he had been listening for them the minute he had left the kitchen, sure he likes to mess with Husker and Vaggie was so easy to annoy it was practically irresistible, but _her,_ it was different. The minute she realized he was trying to get a rise out of her she would put up a wall, it was so entertaining it only made him want to try harder. 

To say it had greatly... _upset him_ when she had yet another private meeting with the others was an understatement. But no matter he would bide his time, he was a very patient man it took a lot to irritate him, oh yes, he would wait until she saw their true nature. Then and _only_ then would he strike. 

You come to a stop at the open door Niffty jumps up and down immediately happy to see you “oh man am I glad to see you, we have so much to do!” She exclaims your eyes widen as you look around the room with a sense of dread, you weren’t going to like this, were you? Alastor turns to you unsettling, smug smile firmly in place. 

“Ah, nice of you to join us, my dear!” He asserts, reaching for your shoulders you attempt to sidestep him but the attempt was futile, he grasps your shoulders digging his long, sharp nails in your flesh. You bite down on your tongue to hold in a hiss of pain. Was that really necessary? You could feel yourself drawing blood and the taste of copper in your mouth was revolting. 

He gestures his free hand to the whole room “the wallpaper seems to be peeling in quite a few of the rooms, it’s such an unsightly state, such rooms aren’t fit for guests your job, my little darling fox, is to tear it all down, in every room that requires it” he laughs, flexing his hand on your shoulder as if challenging you to retaliate. 

You spare Niffty a glance and realize that you’re going to be doing most of the work “how many rooms do we have to do this for?” You ask hoping it was a reasonable amount his smile stretches “I’ve counted 32, my dear!” Your jaw drops had it not been a permanent fixture to your face you’re damn sure you’d be picking it up off the floor. 

The colour drains from your face “ _32!?_ ” You yell looking back over the room that’s gonna take all day! No scratch that...that’s gonna take at least two days realistically! “Yes, I suppose you better get started, shouldn’t you?” He says that stupid audience laugh track plays in the background he sends you a smug look adjusting his monocle with a chuckle before leaving the room. 

Niffty gives you a big grin and sets off to work this was going to be a much longer day than you could have possibly expected. You sigh scratching over the skin on your arms before joining Niffty at the far wall...better get started you guessed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always if you spot any mistakes don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks for reading and I'll see you all again next week for the next chapter!


	5. Can you feel that?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your mealtimes had become much more of a hassle than they should have been, Alastor was trying to annoy the others, he'd succeeded in annoying you but instead, the others seemed to be annoying him and they don't even know they're doing it! You finally get to experience your first thunderstorm in hell, you couldn't be happier.
> 
> Now if only Alastor could leave you alone...yeah right keep dreaming!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Heavy Editing📢 This chapter had undergone some very heavy editing so if it seems dramatically changed and much longer that's why.

You and Niffty had been peeling away grotesque wallpaper for hours, you were lucky that this was god awful looking and deserved to be ripped down it was bright orange with a yellow polka-dot design and that it only covered one or two walls in some of the rooms. Your arms were aching more than you could describe you couldn’t wait for this to be over, or at least you couldn’t wait to have a break but as you peeked over at Niffty you could tell that she could probably keep going for hours. 

You had to use a scraper for some parts your hands had little cuts over them, you had quickly discovered there were nails in the walls that were jutting out slightly you often caught your fingers one them, as nimble as they were, which often meant you’d let out little gasps and hisses sometimes, Niffty had taken to counting out loud how many times you’d done it. The sky outside the left side window continued to darken and yet you were certain it was only noon. 

You arched your back slightly it had begun to ache from being bent in odd positions for so long you’d think you’d be used to your bodily aches by now but no. Niffty had taken to humming a tune you could only assume it was from her time as you couldn’t recall ever hearing it, it was very upbeat like her you found yourself bobbing your head to it. You admit it helped to time go by a _little faster_. But not by much. 

If you were completely honest with yourself you were five minutes away from telling Alastor to stuff this job up his ass, in the most painful way imaginable, but you didn’t want to let down the others you’d agreed to help and you didn’t want to go back on your offer to Charlie, you also didn’t want to cave this early. And you couldn’t let Niffty do _all of this_ by herself. Poor thing probably wouldn’t mind but how selfish would it make you look? 

You let out an infuriated huff Niffty glances at you warily “how are you doing over there?” She calls you blow a few strands of your hair out of your face, rather unsuccessfully you might add, they were tickling your cheeks and making your face itch you rub your face and turn to eye her with a tired smile, trying not to let all this annoying work get to you, you hold up two thumbs up and reply “just peachy.” 

You tried your best not to grind the words through your teeth like you so wanted to. You couldn’t remember ever feeling so annoyed in your time alive, but perhaps you had been and just couldn’t recall it? Niffty gives you sympathetic smile “we’ve gotten through a good chunk of these rooms, I’m honestly impressed, they’ll probably call us down for lunch soon!” She rushes with a cute nod of her head. 

You both inspect the room, damn at the mention of food your stomach grumbles, you had to admit the room looked far better now that most of the wallpaper was torn down, you and Niffty had been wondering whether painting it would be more affordable this time around. It would certainly stay a lot cleaner if you painted the walls but then there was the fear that they’d look a lot different to the rest of the Hotel and tearing down all of the wallpaper certainly wouldn’t be great for them cost-wise. 

“That will surely give you some fuel to get back at it, looking a little less sour!” she cheers before giggling; you make a face before you realise, she’s still talking about lunch you pout before sending her a kind smile. You wouldn’t be able to do this without her enthusiasm to keep you going. She was also very fast which meant you got through the rooms much quicker than you were expecting to. 

You knew that for that reason only you’d be able to put up with such an annoying request, Alastor had been popping his head in and out of most of the rooms you’d both been working rather hard in. Sometimes he would just stand there and watch you work for a while before leaving and other times he’d hover over your shoulder and point out bits you’d missed! You weren’t blind, you answer was always the same, _silence_ , you ignored him as best as you could. 

Even if he was a _persistent bastard._ “Ah, my dear, I do believe you’ve missed a spot!” You could practically hear him yelling it at you right now even though you knew better because you would have heard him coming his constant pestering was making you ever surer that this was part of his plan to annoy you. You had eventually had enough of him at one point though. 

_“How are my two, valued, employee’s?!”_

_“Dear, you’ve missed another spot over here!”_

_“Are you nearly done?!”_

_“Hell-”_ You’d slammed the door in his face that time not caring enough for his antics it was slowing the both of you down. That was half an hour ago you’d since moved on to this room which you’d nearly finished, Niffty had chuckled but agreed that he had started to get quite annoying. She handled his insufferable personality so well it was incredible, you assumed it was because she was simply used to it by now. 

Shaking yourself from your thoughts you turned to get back to work but footsteps interrupted you, for a solid minute, frustration spikes in you thinking that it’s Alastor coming to annoy you both again, but when you train your ears to follow the sound the familiar heartbeat of Vaggie had you breathing a sigh of relief. You watch as she enters the room giving a quiet half-hearted knock on the open door. Her eye widens when she sees you both looking exhausted and yet still working without complaint. 

Well, without verbal complaint at least, you think a smirk threatening to tug your lips upward “aren’t you guys tired, you’ve been working for hours take a break go do something else for an hour, we’ll be having lunch soon” she says eyeing you both with concern Niffty nods before practically sprinting from the room mumbling something about reporting the progress to Alastor. You only hoped that would be enough to satisfy his need to continuously check on the both of you so frequently. 

Vaggie takes a few steps toward you and offers a hand for you to take, from your current crouched position on the floor you look up and have this feeling of Deja vu again this felt oddly reminiscent of the day you met Vaggie. You grab her hand, and she hoists you to your feet. You arch your back once more trying to work out the tense pain that lingered there. 

You were pretty sure you were 23-year-old women trapped in the body of an 80-year-old you’d been like that ever since you hit the grand age of 18, just constant back pain and you couldn’t blame it on strange sleeping positions because it would have happened far sooner than that. You bet that insufferable prick doesn’t get back pain because he doesn’t do anything! 

Vaggie crosses her arms and gives you a stern look “you need to take care of yourself, just because Niffty could go all day without a break doesn’t mean you can” she scolded her words seemed harsh, but her gaze was soft, her eye crinkling at the corners slightly “it’s okay to ask for breaks, you shouldn’t overwork yourself for anyone, and especially not for that pompous talk show shit lord” she finishes with a small smile. 

You roll your eyes, girl if only you knew, you think sarcastically. You had the rest of today and tomorrow to look forward to his constant badgering you puff out air between your lips blowing an unintended raspberry Vaggie looks confused “Let’s just say it’s been a long few hours, and leave it at that” she nods hesitantly. 

You nod grinning at her “Going back to what you said about breaks though, thanks Vaggie” this time she gives you a genuine wide smile before nodding her head and leaving the room. Little did you know that she had gone to express her concerns to Charlie, she thought that maybe Alastor might be planning to overwork you on purpose, you seemed too kind to ask for breaks on your own so she would just have to periodically check on you. 

You wander sluggishly down to the lobby, only Husk is there, the TV is playing some knock off Jeremey Kyle, some weird demon family are screaming at each other, but the host is just watching on bemused kinda reminds you of a certain someone. You take a seat at the bar and watch the show for a bit, the aching in your back started to ease slightly. 

You used to watch loads of shows like this with Mike when you were alive you always liked to guess what the lie detector results were going to be during the breaks. Then you both moved on to watching things like Judge Rinder, and then true crime programs, those were a favourite of yours, you’d gotten freakishly good at guessing who’d committed the crime. It always seemed to freak Mike out the thought makes you grin. 

You hear Husk huff softly “so I know better than to give you alcohol, huh?” He says it comes out more like a question, but it’s worded like a statement and you have a little trouble trying to decipher what he was saying before you shake your head “Nah I’m usually not such a lightweight, but I guess alcohol down here is stronger than I’m used to” you reply turning your head to face the TV again. 

You were honestly curious about how this family was going to resolve their issue a comfortable silence settles over you both like a warm blanket on a cold day, out of the corner of your eye you see Husk moving around, you thought he might be getting himself another beer until a glass of something is placed in front of you. It’s a deep plum colour which was stunning, and it also looked a little glittery, you could picture Angel drinking these. 

You eye it warily before shooting him a questioning look “think of this as the lowest percentage in alcohol, start small and work your way up because trust me the day will come when you’ll _need_ a drink, and it would suck if you passed out on the first one” looking at the glass you didn’t doubt him for a second you had a feeling he was speaking from experience. 

Not only that but if Alastor persisted the way he had today, then that day would come sooner than you think. You pick up the stunted glass and turn it this way and that way admiring the way the liquid looked in the light it moved so fluidly and smelled, absolutely, divine. 

You’re about to take a sip before his clawed hand stops you, lightly, you look up to see his face contorted into that of concern his eyebrows are drawn together “a little advice kid, don’t down it like a shot” he lets go of your arm and you nod sheepishly taking a tiny sip of your drink, you end up finding it quite pleasant. But you could see why said don’t down it like a shot, there was that familiar burn but it tasted so nice you could see yourself drinking it like water. 

You thank him and you both settle back into silence watching the program once more by the time the program reaches its second round of adverts, you’d had two of these drinks and your head is starting to feel fuzzy, you feel like Alastor’s static is trapped inside your head. Although, this kind of fuzzy was warm and totally not creepy at all. 

You tell Husk that you’ve probably had enough for now and he nods with a sly smirk mumbling something about you ‘ _totally not being a lightweight_ ’ you flip him off with a laugh you had a slight buzz going on it had been a while since you’d been in a headspace like this one. 

Husker offers to show you some magic tricks he learned to pass the time before heading to lunch and you nod enthusiastically, all the tricks involved a deck of cards he apparently always keeps behind the bar and you were amazed by every single one of them. You felt like a kid again, all childlike wonder without being tainted by the knowledge that life was, actually, one big shit storm. 

He was in the middle of the last one when you vaguely heard dress shoes coming down the stairs but neither you nor Husk looked in that direction as he finished his trick you gasp in absolute delight “how’d you do that?!” You exclaim happily you’re still kinda’ buzzed and you’re damn sure that sentence came out a little wonky. You could feel it, words weren’t rolling off your tongue as fluidly as they used to, you had to struggle to get your mouth under control. 

Husk smiles slightly “a good magician never tells his secrets kid” he slurs apparently just as buzzed as you were before putting the deck away “awh come on you have to teach me one, they were so good! Please, please, please!” You beg you’re practically halfway over the bar counter by now and the all too familiar feeling of static against your skin burst to life. 

It felt loud and obnoxious just like the demon it emitted from, it was caressing your bare skin wherever it could get to it. You felt itchy and the hairs on your arms and neck were standing on end. 

Forcing a violent tremor to run through your body you turn your alcohol hazed brain to the culprit and glared at him “can you cut that shit out already!” You yell feeling slightly violated, you just knew he’d done it on purpose. But there he stood in all his smug glory, Alastor the Radio Demon. Now, this may be your alcohol hazed brain here, but you always thought that a man in a suit was far more attractive than all the fuck boys you knew wore tracksuits when you were alive. 

You almost wished you’d been born in a similar time to him, you so envied the outfits the women wore back then they were so elegant and beautiful, the roaring 20s had been your favourite topic when you were alive you just felt so drawn to it. Although women were still struggling with their rights and all that, Jazz was at its peak in those years, all the dancing was so lively, you can only lament on the life that you had lived. 

His eyebrows raise slightly, and he tilts his head innocently “stop what, my dear, I assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about I was simply on my way here to collect you and Husker to join us for lunch” he lied his grin stretching across his sharp teeth. You practically growled until you felt Husk tap your hand. 

You glanced at him and saw him shaking his head at you, your alcohol hazed brain caught on, he was trying to annoy you, therefore, you had to remain strong and resistant easier said than done when you’ve got a buzz going on and he’s ruining it. You sigh and you can tell that Husk knows exactly what you’re going through but as long as you guys get through it together then you’ll be fine, right? 

You take a deep calming breath and get up from your seat you walk around to the end of the bar and wait for Husk to come out from behind it before stumbling with him into the kitchen. Vaggie, Charlie and Niffty are already sat at the table chatting which was odd you hadn’t seen them walk by and they had to pass by the bar to get into the kitchen. 

You shrug and practically dive into Angel's seat with a huge smirk Husk sat next to you looking as though he were about to roll his eyes at your shenanigans. But he was smirking so you could tell that he was starting to enjoy your weird quirk either that or the alcohol had relaxed him enough that he simply didn’t care anymore, both very likely, but you’d like to think he was just as weird as you were deep down, like way deep down. 

When Angel does finally enter with Alastor following close behind he gives you this strange look before claiming Alastor’s seat next to Husk, let the flirting begin, Husk does roll his eyes this time. Apparently, not nearly drunk enough to be able to handle Angel’s advances, you had to hand it to Angel though he was very persistent, a guy that knew exactly what he wanted. It was just bad news for Husk, poor guy was never gonna catch a break. 

You turn to Vaggie and Charlie and send them a smile “how’s the work on those rooms going?” Charlie asks “Niffty and Vaggie told me you might be finding the work a bit overwhelming” she adds her eyebrows pinching together you shake your head “nope, it’s going fine, it’s a lot but I’m lucky to have Niffty, I wouldn’t be able to do it alone” you send Niffty an appreciative smile. Right, now you just knew that sentence came out all kinds of wrong, but you hope they got the gist of it 

She starts practically bouncing in her seat making all sorts of excited squeals “you should hang out with Husk and drink alcohol more often if it’s gonna cheer you up that much!” She squeals you laugh and you’re sure you hear Husk laugh under his breath just a little. Holy shit! Were pigs flying? You should check, right? Someone should check?... 

Alastor, who had been stood at the cooker, in his ridiculous pink apron seemed to strongly oppose the idea the static in the air was thick you were about to yell again but Husk gently wrapped a clawed hand around you wrist warning you not to you pout at him, but he just sends you a drunk grin before letting go of your wrist and patting your hand. “My what a foul habit to get into, I strongly disagree with you, my dear Niffty” he asserts. 

Niffty turns to face him with confusion “but look at how happy she is! It must be doing her some good to be hanging out with Husker” she gasps looking back over to you. You’re sat with a silly dazed smile on your face wondering when your buzz will wear off. You hoped it wouldn’t be anytime soon, but it couldn’t last forever unless you made like Husker and started drinking all day every day for the rest of forever. _Now there's an idea..._

Husk stares Alastor down as pompous prick turns to look at you, you’re swinging your legs under the table like a child and swaying side to side slightly whether you know you’re doing it or not is a different story. If he were being honest with himself, he was damn proud that he was able to make Alastor look completely livid even if it didn’t last long. 

It wouldn’t seem like anything had changed to the others, but he had known Alastor a lot longer and he knew when the guys' buttons were pressed. He smirked before looking back at the kid, he had enjoyed the little bit of time he’d spent with her, he wouldn’t admit it obviously, but every time he showed her a magic trick, he felt a burst of nostalgia at the awed expression she’d pulled. It was nice, he smiles fondly at her for a brief minute before Angel ruins it. 

You look over at Husk as your buzz starts to die down a little “will you ever teach me any of those tricks?” You whisper leaning in close chatter had started up at the table he looks down at you thinking for a moment and with a heavy sigh he replies “maybe.” That might as well have been a full out yes because you knew that’s exactly what he meant; you could see the cheeky sparkle in his eyes. 

You didn’t have time to get all excited because lunch practically appeared in front of you as Alastor took his seat it was almost opposite you he looked quite put off having to sit in a different seat everyone looked at each other almost wondrously not uttering a single word. Show off, yeah that might be real magic but he didn’t have to work for it, and it just didn’t have that same sense of awe like Husk’s had. 

“Husker isn’t the only one who can perform magic tricks, are you? My good friend,” Alastor looks at him with an amused smirk his eyes squinted but you could still see that mischievous gleam in them it wasn’t hard to miss. Was he seriously jealous? Bloody hell, that’s got to be a first you send a quirk of your brow to Angel who looks just as amused as you do with this, _particular_ , turn of events. 

Vaggie almost laughed at the thought of the big and terrifying Radio Demon getting petty because someone else was receiving praise for once she turns to Husk who doesn’t look as though he gives a fuck and says proudly “well, I think I’d much prefer to see Husk’s magic tricks if they’ve got you wanting to learn them!” You turn to Vaggie with an excited nod. 

“They were amazing! I remember I used to love watching magicians when I was alive it’s so cool actually meeting one!” You rush out, it was true Husk might not consider himself a true magician, but you did. Husk was forcing himself not to turn beetroot red “can we just eat now?” He mutters feeling embarrassed. You send him a very large grin “why? Feeling embarrassed?” You ask his face nearly explodes with colour Angel who had just tentatively taken a bite of a sandwich choked on it from laughing. 

Vaggie snickers and you shrug chatter starts over the table, but you could have sworn that you could hear the careless grinding of teeth you smirk. You simply knew it was Alastor getting pissy because you had completely blanked him. Whatever he could stand to stew for a while you, in fact, with the way he’d insisted on annoying you today he could stand to stew all day. You start chatting with Charlie figuring out all the things she likes. 

Turns out the princess of hell has a huge sweet tooth you couldn’t blame her; you start chatting about all the sweets you liked when you were alive “candy floss was an all-time favourite of mine” you say casually “you would have loved it, Charlie, it was like eating pink coloured clouds” you add wistfully you used to love sneaking out to the fair with Mike, whenever it rolled into town, just so you could go on the rides and eat candy floss. 

You almost always did it when your Father had his colleagues over nothing good ever came from them being there. Eventually, you had started making it your bonding time with him, sneaking out to the fair, getting dizzy on rides, eating loads of sweets and then nearly throwing them back up. You smile softly not noticing how quiet the room had got when you finally look up at Charlie, she’s giving you this questioning look. 

“What are you thinking about so hard?” She asks the table’s quiet you know everyone's listening, but this is a memory you didn’t mind sharing “I remember sneaking my brother out to the fair to go on the rides and eat candy floss, and tones of other sweets whenever it came to town” you reminisced “we did it a lot whenever dad brought work home, I just wanted to have some fun it was so rare for us to do anything we wanted, so I’d sneak him out to the fair...I wonder if he still does that?” 

If he does then who does he go with? Surely, he wouldn’t go by himself, he’d told you on multiple occasions that was for sad people and he wasn’t a sad person, he was, actually, quite a happy person even though he knew dad would never accept him for the way he really was it didn’t matter to him, he’d had you after all...'Had' being the keyword there you suppose. 

You were starting to feel melancholy you didn’t want to put a damper on the moment by getting upset so you shake your head finally glancing around the table Vaggie and Charlie are giving you soft smiles and Vaggie’s rubbing your back comfortingly Niffty looked as though she were lost in your memories with you. 

Angel looked sympathetic and a little nostalgic himself it leads you to believe that he may also have siblings he was close to and for once Husk doesn’t look grumpy you can’t quite describe the expression on his face, but you know it’s a kind one. Alastor still has his unchanging grin on his face, you honestly couldn’t tell if it was genuine or amused. 

You did know, however, that it made you want to slap it off. You just knew you wouldn’t be opening up to _him_ anytime soon, if at all. You roll your eyes Vaggie gives your back a slight pat and you look at her “I bet he cherishes those memories just as fondly as you do, if he has any sense, hun” she assures and you nod, there wasn’t a malicious bone in his body. _Not one_. 

You all finished eating laughing a little, Alastor had tried to start arguments, of course, irritating the others in ways that normally would have gone unnoticed, but it seemed that they had taken your advice they knew when a remark was aimed at them and they knew exactly what he was trying to elicit and they had done extremely well in deflecting it. You were so proud as was Charlie. 

After eating you and Vaggie cleaned the dishes together chatting about your memories of the fair and what your favourite rides used to be, turns out Vaggie used to be a total adrenaline junkie and always went for the big rides you had only gone on a few of the bigger rides your favourite had been the City Hopper. You viewed the fair as a chance to see how many sweets you and you brother could stuff your faces with before one of you threw up, you won every time. 

Your brother had loved the Twister, you two ended your evenings at the fair with that ride because you both loved it so much especially when it went really fast on speed night, usually, the last night that the fair is in town it’s called speed night all the rides go much faster than usual definitely not a night for small kids. Vaggie seemed to remember a lot of the rides you started rattling off you both got quite excited talking about it. 

Charlie watched on she was so happy Vaggie had someone else to reminisce about her life with a lot of the others here had died in earlier times, much earlier, so they had been here much longer than she had it was nice that she had someone she could relate to a little. A fond smile formed on her face; she would give anything to have seen what their lives were like. 

With the table cleared and the dishes cleaned and put away, Niffty rushes up to you “hey if we get a head start those rooms now, we’ll have the majority of them done today we’ll only have a couple to do tomorrow!” She exclaims that sounded promising, you nod enthusiastically “well, what are we waiting for lead the way!” You return her excitement and laugh when it practically sends her into a sprint toward the rooms. 

Vaggie gently grabs your shoulder before you go “I’ll come and check on you when you need a break okay?” She whispers giving Alastor a knowing side-eye you didn’t have to look at him to know his ears were pivoted in your direction, so you retaliated by doing the same. He was talking with Husk, no that’s wrong, was talking _at_ Husk there’s a difference. 

To have a conversation both parties must be willing and contributing Husk looked neither willing nor contributing. You nod to Vaggie before chasing after Niffty knowing that longer you stayed the more chance Alastor had to get a word in. And you just knew he was gonna be a huge pain in the fucking ass again, you didn’t need a big brain to figure that out. 

You found Niffty and set to work tearing down the wallpaper feeling refuelled and re-energized Niffty started to hum again and you lost yourself in the tune. And you noticed that the wallpaper just kept getting worse and worse, not from the mould, but the actual choice in wallpaper was disgusting, it was gaudy and ridiculous. 

Extremely out of date, if you had anything to say about it, it wasn’t nice things “this wallpaper’s awful, and not for the obvious reasons” you mutter Niffty sends you a glance over her shoulder noticing you pulling a disgusted face at the wallpaper you were pulling down she nods “yeah, I don’t really like it either it’s very dated” she replies with a screwed up look. 

You chuckle, well it’s saying something if even _she_ thinks it’s dated. When you get back to working again you do so in silence occasionally the only sound you make is moving ladders about and then climbing up and down them, there’s also the sound of the wallpaper crumpling and for a while, you think that maybe Alastor finally got the hint until you hear the familiar sound of his shoes coming down the hallway. 

You groan in preparation for what’s to come “what?” Niffty asks but you don’t even have to answer her question as he bursts through the door like the annoyance, he is. “Niffty, my dear, you’re doing very well!” He exclaims you don’t fail to notice that he left you out but as you’re up a very tall ladder right now and you’re trying not to fall off you just decide to let it slide. 

You’re struggling to get a particularly stubborn piece of wallpaper off the wall when he finally nears you, your fingers and hands were singing from the number of little cuts you had on them, dust must be getting into the cuts somehow, all of these rooms were exceptionally filthy, you had no doubt that prick would make you both go back through and clean them all. 

The ladder jolts suddenly folding and then falling underneath you, you let out a surprised gasp you’ve got nothing to hang onto so instead you just fall it doesn’t take long, it was wasn’t like you’d fallen from a great height, but it had surprised you. You’re caught before you can hit the floor and hurt yourself, but you just dread looking up because there’s only one person capable enough of catching you in this room right now. 

You look up and are met by one of the smuggest, shit-eating grins you’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing, you glare at Alastor who looked far too pleased with himself right now “My, my, that could have been a terrible fall for you, dear, I suppose it was a good job I came when I did” he boasts, you’re glare turns into a sneer, not a terribly attractive look but you’d learned it from Vaggie and, hey why not use it, right? 

“Are you kidding me?” You reply downright shocked that he’d pushed you off the ladder to make an excuse like that, how terribly weak. He hums for a minute looking as though he were trying to hold back a laugh “no I don’t think so!” You wanted to punch him. You’d never had such a strong urge to be violent before in your life but if anyone were able to make you violent, it was this asshole right here. 

“Fine you’ve made your point, now put me down!” You demand you struggle to get out of his grasp, but he had a terribly tight grip on you, it was becoming increasingly clear that you weren’t going anywhere. He grins because to him this is common knowledge if anything you were just going to tire yourself out “now, now, I need to check you over for any injuries can’t have my valued employee’s getting hurt, now can I?” He asks, walking over to one of the old chairs in the room and placing you on it. 

Oh, dear lord, will this day never cease! You groan in irritation one again making your displeasure known he simply chuckles before checking you over, knowing damn well that you were fine! You would have been even better if he hadn’t entered the room. Once he’s seemingly satisfied, he steps back from you with a smirk “there all done. You know you should be a little more grateful what would you have done if I weren’t here to catch you!” 

You couldn’t fucking believe it you sputter in utter astonishment; no way was he saying that you were ungrateful! He fucking knocked the ladder over! He raises a single finger “I guess you will simply have to make it up to me, my dear” he says sounding rather amused by your reaction. Your eyes nearly pop out of your skull “what?” You deadpan you couldn’t believe you’re ears surely; he wasn’t this fucking pompous? 

He simply nods with a grin “yes I shall have to think of a way, but I’ll let you know when I think of one, I’ll let you get back to work now though, dear and please do be more careful” before you can scream at him, he leaves. You’re left feeling like a swirling vortex of frustration and anger you pull wildly at your hair before hiding your head in your hands and letting out a muffled scream letting out all of your annoyance. 

He’d done it, he’d won. He’d finally annoyed you to the point of breaking and you’d been so stupid as to just fall for it, but that was such a sly way of getting under your skin the more you thought about it the angrier you got you yelled out an angry “FUCK YOU!!” 

He’d heard you, obviously, he smirks hearing you yell in frustration, though he wished you wouldn’t curse so much, but he’s done it he’d finally gotten under that thick skin of yours. That wonderful green skin he knew that tomorrow would be a different story now, you were a quick learner, that’s what made you oh so interesting the others never learned they were quick to anger but you, you learned. 

He’d have to up his game once again, catch you off guard once again, get under that _beautiful skin_ once again. It brought him far too much enjoyment for him to merely do it once so why not twice? Why not thrice? Who’s to stop him from getting under your pretty green skin for the rest of forever? No one. He hums to himself replaying your reaction in his head over and over and over. He’ll never get sick of it, the fire in your eyes, the snarl on your lips. 

He’d treasure such a memory and he couldn’t wait to make more. 

After you had eventually calmed down you got back to work and had been working for a few hours Niffty had found a very old looking radio, yeah you nearly had another conniption when you saw it, but Niffty looked over the moon she had turned it on and music that she seemed to recognize started to fill the room it had lifted her mood considerably which was saying something. Because she’s always fucking happy. 

So, you had decided that it was better than working in silence and an hour or two later Vaggie walked in “hey how’re you both doing?” She asks having to raise her voice a bit to be heard over the music you walk up to her so that you don’t have to shout “we’re good Niffty found an old radio, as much as I literally hate it, the novelty of working in silence was kind of getting old” you reply stretching your arms up, the bone in your back _pops_. 

Your hands practically shoot to your back faster than a bullet your jaw drops, and you make a sound that you’ve never made before causing Vaggie to laugh you shoot her a death glare while trying to contain a smile “don’t laugh at my pain!” You yell this just makes Vaggie laugh harder which in turn makes you laugh too. 

You were practically rolling on the floor in laughter Vaggie finally takes a deep breath in before speaking “I think your back is trying to tell you it’s break time” You almost start laughing again, what a great choice of words “oh yeah? By what? Breaking?” You say sarcastically Vaggie laughs and rolls her eye. 

Helping you to your feet you see Niffty leaving the room the minute she hears the word break. You follow Vaggie down the hallway just chatting about random things you also fill her in on the incident with Alastor that had occurred earlier. “Oh, so that _was_ you I heard yelling earlier?” She says, as if all the pieces of some puzzle had come together, she fumes with you for a bit until you both get so angry that you simply must change the topic. She tells you dinner was going to be about another hour or so and you felt that this was the perfect time to talk to her and Charlie about yesterday. 

“So, could I talk to you and Charlie then?” You ask she gives you a semi confused look “I just think I’m ready to talk about yesterday now” trying to hint not so subtly at what you meant it takes a minute before you see her eye widen in realization and she nods “sure, hun, come on” she replies, and you follow her to their room. This room seems to have become some kind of meeting room for the three of you now. 

When you get there, she lets you straight in Charlie’s sat on the bed watching some movie on their TV but when she sees you both enter, she hurries to pause it. She sits up with a smile on her face and pats the bed. “Hey, you okay? I heard you yelling earlier and wasn’t sure whether or not I should ask” she says immediately you shake your head “story for another time” you reply quickly. 

Both you and Vaggie take a seat on the bed “go on, cariño, it’s okay” she says comfortingly that’s the second time you’ve heard her say a Spanish word and you had no idea what it meant, you could only assume it was a pet name, like when she says, hun. It was actually kinda sweet, she must have done that a lot when she was alive, it’s nice to know that she’s continuing it. 

You nod and swallow thickly pulling your knees up to your chest you take a deep breath to settle your nerves and try to organize your thoughts a bit “well, yesterday, I was getting loads of random...I don’t know flashbacks? I guess?” You pause to swallow again your mouth suddenly starting to feel dry wasn’t helping your nerves. 

They simply nod waiting for you to finish just as they had yesterday “well, they were kind of random like when I washed the dishes last night, I had a flashback to my job, waitressing, but it was only back to this one particularly busy night. I kinda get this feeling that may have been the last night I worked there even though it wasn’t planned at all” You were letting out word vomit at this point. 

But you couldn’t help it, you just couldn’t organize what you were thinking and feeling so they were both coming out at once in a tangled mess of words “and-” you look up at Charlie “-and when you were doing my hair, I had a different one, my mother had been doing my hair, when I was a lot younger and she was alive that had been the last day I’d seen her alive I never even got to say goodbye I was 6-years-old” tears slipped from your eyes in a waterfall of treacherous betrayals your voice cracked miserably you missed her, she was your Angel. 

You sniffle pitifully “Dad didn’t speak to me for years after that, he didn’t speak to anyone...” You mumbled, in an instant, Charlie was hugging you tightly you just sobbed “hun, it’s okay, I bet she’s in a better place with fond memories of you” Vaggie whispers but she sounds close to tears too. 

You nod, you mother was an amazing woman super-shy she wouldn’t ask anyone for help if she was struggling, she’d do it alone, but she’d do it with the most radiant smile you’d ever seen. You’re damn sure that if she could give you the world she would have, and all the stars with it. 

“That’s not all” you manage to say, finally composing yourself “I had a nightmare last night, about my death,” you say grimly Vaggie’s face falls her frown deepening she remembered when she had those, she used to get them every night when she arrived, now she only gets them every once in a while. 

Charlie gives you a distressed look “if I could take them away I would, but eventually won’t get them as often, I’m sorry” You shake your head you felt ten pounds lighter “no it’s okay I feel better having talked about it” they nod they were glad you had felt like you could confide in them about it. 

Eventually, you all start talking about something else and the mood lifts a little, you all end up leaving their room and start to slowly make your way to the lobby. The sky outside seemed to have been darkening all day, it should have seemed impossible but heck this was hell who were you to question it? Charlie followed your gaze out the window and let out a slow hum “we could be in for some rain later” she marvels. 

You nod slightly, she had lived here all her life, so you were inclined to agree with her she obviously knew hell better than you did. Upon reaching the lobby you follow behind Charlie and Vaggie, lost in thoughts of your own, you hoped that Michael was okay you couldn’t shake this feeling of concern off. 

You remember it being primarily you who looked after him your other two older brothers had been moved out but were in the same business as your dad. You hadn’t spoken to them much because of that, much to their disappointment, you’re sure. You had looked up to them when you were young but when they had joined dads' business, and when you had learned what that entailed, you had stopped talking to them completely. 

Michael had refused dads’ job offer; it had annoyed the shit out of the old man, but he’d gotten over it in time. You shake your head, trying to remove the thoughts now was not the time to start sifting through memories. You hadn’t realized you’d paused at the bottom of the stairs “Hey kid, you just gonna’ stand there or what?” Husk calls gruffly, from behind the bar. 

Your head shoots toward him before shaking it again and skipping over to sit at the bar he pulls out the deck of cards and you barely contain your excitement knowing he’s gonna teach you a trick that he’d done earlier. Angel sneaks into the seat next to you and watches silently you vaguely hear the kitchen doors open. 

But knowing who it is, you brush it off building a thick barrier between yourself and the pure white-hot hatred you had for that demon. You start concentrating on everything Husk is telling you and soon you’re able to perform the trick on Angel who, to say the least, is completely amazed like a child like you had been. To see such childlike wonder in him was nice you had almost thought it was gone considering his... _job_ and all. You’re only too excited to be able to do magic tricks. 

Husk hates to admit it but seeing you get all happy and excited when you get the trick right warms his cold dead heart just a little, he finds it completely endearing, and he finds himself thinking that you’re not like a lot of the other demons he’s met before. You’re something else kid, he thinks in amusement as he watches you perform the same trick on Charlie and Vaggie. 

Yet, little did the room know, that you getting closer to Husk and the others was really starting to irritate a certain someone, his clawed hands flexed and twitched by his sides his posture stiffened as he watched you from afar performing that same trick on that insufferable moth demon and your giggle when you got it right once again made him clench his fists in confusion. 

He never lost his forced smile, even as it threatened to twitch into something unseemly, how could something so simple capture and keep your attention it wasn’t even real magic, what he had done earlier was _real_ magic, this was just misplaced illusion. It _baffled_ him. 

You happily strut back to the bar after having successfully performed the trick on everyone barring the obvious and you hand Husk back his deck. He puts it back in its place and a static crackled cough cuts through the air “if you would all like to take your seats at the table, dinner will be ready in a few minutes!” Alastor announces especially loud. Louder than normal you flash Husk a questioning look, but he just shrugs. 

You all enter the kitchen and it’s literally a race for seats which ends up in an eruption of laughter. You’re honestly not sure how you ended up in between Angel and Husk but Niffty was sat in Vaggie’s old seat. Vaggie was sat in Charlie’s old seat somewhat opposite Husk and Charlie had sat in Niffty’s old seat somewhat opposite you. 

Angel starts snickering “what has our dinner times come to now? We gonna’ be playin’ musical chairs every time we sit down to eat?” He asks to no one, in particular, you laugh “if I have my way then yes, absolutely” Vaggie laughs again and you all quickly settle into a conversation, Alastor serves the food without a word which is... _strange_. 

You and Vaggie share an uncertain look Niffty and Charlie once again dive in with no regard for their safety but when they don’t drop dead the rest of you follow suit, if a lot more hesitantly, “Hey, out of curiosity, how are computers doing up there?” Vaggie asks randomly and suddenly your eyebrows shoot up before replying “uh they’re doing really well; I mean laptops are super popular now practically everyone has one. People are using them more than TV’s now.” 

You eat another mouth full of risotto it was delicious, it was so good it made you angry, Vaggie nods “I had a desktop computer, you know those old bulky things, had to share it with the whole family ya’ know” You nod you’d had to do the same when you were younger “phones are doing well too, kids and teens are barely off them now. Social media’s the new in thing” You say, “I was never too fond of it.” 

The conversation quietens with Vaggie nodding in agreement and everyone starts to eat in silence even Alastor’s quiet, _too quiet_ , the static was still heavily present though. You had a feeling he was thinking of ways to annoy the others that might be more creative. A bit more _undetectable_. 

The air starts to get a bit heavier and you notice Angel stiffen next to you he stops eating and just randomly looks up. You take in a deep breath and part your lips to ask him what’s wrong until the smell hits you. Your nose goes completely wild sniffing the air it’s the same smell you get before it starts to rain. Excitement was building up in the pit of your stomach like a dam of butterflies about to burst. 

Your hairs were standing on edge and you could hear it outside you look straight up just like Angel, noes and ears forever twitching slight cracks of thunder so quiet you were sure the others wouldn’t hear it but you felt almost completely in tune with it. 

“For fuck sake, I hate storms” Angel hissed before going back to eating but you just can’t you’re waiting for something your entire body is tensed, ready to pounce at any second, your muscles are twitching in anticipation. Your eyes widen in excitement you’re holding your breath so much that your heart had slowed to an absolute crawl. 

“Hun are you okay?” You faintly hear Vaggie asking this, but you can’t reply for whatever reason instinct has taken over chatter has started up talking about whatever might be wrong with you Angel jumps in “she can sense the storm just give her a few minutes would ya, it’s the first time she’s been able to do this she’s gonna’ be feelin’ all kinds of shit” He huffs flamboyantly. 

A silent minute goes by you’re on edge the atmosphere is pressing against your skin and there it is, the first _loud crack_ of thunder. And you literally can’t control your body you scramble out of your seat and rush in a hurried mess toward the kitchen doors flinging them open with a bang you sprint as hard and as fast as you’re able toward the hotel doors. 

Forcing them open you jump off the patio and into the dirt just as the downpour starts lightning flashes through the sky ferociously proud. You let the cool rain wash over you, your hair is soaked in mere minutes as are your clothes you’ve got dirt and grit stuck to your knees and palms from landing on all fours on the gravel-covered floor, but you just don’t care. 

You had died in the summer season you’d had lovely hot weather the whole damn time, but you preferred rain no, you fucking _loved_ rain, so you started practically dancing in joy as thunder cracks through the sky again, booming in your ears you tilt your head up to look at the sky and grin. You’d been waiting for a storm like this one for far too long. 

You turn around to see the others stood at the hotel doors not daring to venture outside and you beamed at them “look at it!” You scream in excitement “ _IT’S BEAUTIFUL!”_ You yell loudly other denizens passing by are looking at you as if you’re crazy, but you didn’t care you had never been so happy to feel the rain of your skin. 

The others gave you amused looks and simply watched you gallivant around like a crazy person in the heavy rain until the novelty wore off, which actually took quite a while they were honestly starting to question if you’d ever come back into the hotel. 

But you did, absolutely sopping wet, with rosy cheeks and the biggest smile you could muster up you jog up to them and bounce up and down on the spot “that was fun” you gasp feeling a little tired you’d burned through whatever energy you’d had prior. 

Vaggie shakes her head at you with a smirk Charlie looks just as excited as you were, Niffty was giggling at you quietly. Husk was, well, Husk as moody as ever you supposed with him being a cat demon rain wouldn’t agree with him. Angel looked almost disgusted at the storm but seemed to find your antics hilarious otherwise. 

Alastor was facing away from you just a bit you knew he was grinning and honestly you wouldn’t be surprised if he was making fun of you for this. Little did you know that he was hiding a slight blush. It had crept onto his face before he was able to push it down, he had found the sight of you getting excited by the storm... _endearing_. He too was a rain lover. 

However, he didn’t understand why it had caused such an odd reaction in him finally forcing the blush down he rolled his shoulders and simply brushed it off. It didn’t seem important enough to dwell on. 

Looking down at you now though he saw your eyes practically glittering and your grin pretty much rivalled his as you spoke with Vaggie and Charlie, he wouldn’t lie it was an awfully pretty sight and didn’t think things like that often, but he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t. All of this was caused by a little rain, some thunder and lightning? Why? He simply didn’t understand, this little dame confused him more than he’d like to admit. _He really disliked it_. 

Vaggie, Charlie and you start laughing about it “we had no idea what was wrong with you” Vaggie said suddenly “we thought maybe you were having another, you know, moment” she hinted Charlie nodded but you shook your head “I don’t know why but I couldn’t control my body, I could literally feel every aspect of the storm, but I couldn’t move it was so weird” you explain. 

You hear Angel sigh “yeah it was like that for me the first few times too, that’ll wear off the more ya’ experience it, toots” he explains that you can sense a storm before it happens just like him which made sense as animals can do that, but you turn a confused head to look between Husk and Alastor “didn’t you guys sense it?” You ask. 

Husk shrugs “yeah I just don’t care, look you stay here long enough kid the novelty wears off” he huffs before walking back behind the bar and pulling out a beer you turn to face Alastor who simply turns and walks away apparently your question wasn’t worth answering you watch him ascend the stairs and drift out of sight. 

“The fuck?” Husk huffs in befuddlement looking back at you guys, apparently shit like _that_ doesn’t happen often. You were just sick of his shit at this point and it’s only been what two, three days tops? Whatever you were going to bed, you had exhausted yourself. You uttered a quick goodnight to those that were present some of which returned it and you tiredly walked to your own room. 

Stripping out of your sopping wet clothes and drying off before getting to some pyjamas and collapsing into your bed. This time you hoped for a dreamless sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys here's an early update, I didn't think I'd have this chapter ready to early but here we are! I hope you enjoy it! If you spot any mistakes don't be afraid to let me know (honestly I'll be re-reading this anyway just in case I spot any) and Thanks again for reading. See you all next week for a new update!


	6. Down with the sickness...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You'd woken, feeling sick you had no idea why. Little did you know that a certain demon had tampered with your food, what are you supposed to do with yourself now? I suppose you could spend some quality time with Husk, I guess?
> 
> Much to a certain demon's dislike...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Heavy Editing📢 This Chapter was heavily edited so if it seems different and longer this is why.

You wake in the morning feeling less than refreshed, your eyes are crusted closed you rub them gingerly removing that had gathered in the corners. Your hair must look wild as curls of it were sticking out all over the place making you feel ten times worse you didn’t even want to touch it; you lean up on one of your forearms and glance around the room your sleep had been anything but restful. You had tossed and turned _all night_. 

When you had finally fallen asleep you had thought you’d seen something move out of the corner of your eye, at the time you had just chalked it up to being tired, your mind had a funny habit of playing tricks on you when you were on the edge of sleep. You saw no reason to think anything of it, honestly, you’re not even sure that you would have been able to do anything about it anyway, what you had seen was anything but normal. But then again, this wall hell so what’s really normal about that? 

What you had thought you’d seen was an opaque formless _shadow_ slink across the floor and under your bed, it filled you with this sense of dread, the only thing that was distinguishable about it was its mouth and yes it had definitely had one. You simply hadn’t had the energy to make sure, you could have been _slaughtered_ last night and you would have just let it happen. 

Now that you were finally gaining your baring's you were starting to feel sick, not nervous like usual but actually physically sick. Well, you’re about to be reacquainted with last night’s dinner you had to admit that risotto as nice as it had been you couldn’t eat all of it, for some reason after every mouth full there was a disgusting after taste, you chalked it up to whatever herbs Alastor had used. You rush to the bathroom and spend about half an hour on the cold floor vomiting violently into the toilet. 

Your knees were feeling bruised but your stomach had no sympathy for the stress it was causing the rest of your body. Your hands were shaking while they gripped the side of the white toilet bowl to keep you steady. You hadn’t been this sick before, sure you’d gotten ill when you were alive but never like this: 

_Led in bed, sweating, feeling like this was a_ _livin'_ _hell, there was no one for you to call to help you, tissues were piled high on the nightstand next to you, it was semi-resembling Mount Everest. You huff “ugh, this...sucks!” you groan sounding very bunged up and nasally Michael was at school your other brothers were at work as was your dad. Your phone rings and when you_ _answer_ _you hear the familiar deep voice of your boyfriend on the other end._

_“Hey, love, how are you feeling?” He asks lovingly you smile slightly “how do you think I’m feeling?” You retort sarcastically you hear him laugh on the other end and the sound cheers you up dramatically “well, it’s a good job my mum and dad love you, I’m at the front door with dinner, mum made it, she wants you to get better” he replies._

_You were surprised he was supposed to be as school too, you stumble your way downstairs and open the front door there in all his tall glory, in his black t-shirt, plaid jacket, black jeans, and combat boots, a head of messy brown hair and bright green piercing eyes was your lovely boyfriend “Dave!” You gasp, you wanted to leap into his waiting arms but you didn’t want to make him sick._

_He shakes his head with a tender smile “come here!” He demands pulling you into a tight and loving embrace. You had no idea what you’d done to deserve someone so lovely. Your mother would have_ _approved_ _greatly_ _._

The sun or whatever wasn’t even up yet, you were sure that you were loud enough to wake the entire hotel if you hadn’t, you’d be amazed though you had a feeling that Husk could sleep through Armageddon. When you finally finished saying hello to your stomach's contents, you close the toilet and flush it before taking a minute to breathe. When you’ve finally gotten your breath back and accumulated a little bit of energy you eventually get up to brush your teeth and gargle some mouth wash. 

It wasn’t enough... _nothing will ever be enough!_

You felt exhausted already and the day hadn’t even started yet, your stomach hurt and honestly you would be perfectly happy if you were _exterminated_ there and then but you’d be far happier to just spend the day in bed, however, that’s not going to happen you had a lot to do today, being a little sick isn’t going to stop you from working. You were hunched over on the toilet lid head in your hands feeling your energy draining from you, you vaguely hear a series of light knocks on your door before hearing your bedroom door open. 

You look up to see Angel, literally the last person you expected to see up at this time, he looks equally surprised to see you hunched over on the toilet looking pale and like you’re going to pass out at any second. He takes two long-ass strides over to you and kneels down. “Ya’ okay, toots? Ya look...uh... _terrible_ ” He asks looking genuinely concerned. 

He starts idly pushing stray pieces of your hair away from your face, his hands were nice and cool against your burning flesh. Your eyes flutter closed for a minute while you gather some energy to be able to talk. You’re secretly relieved that he’d come in to check on you, actually, you’re relieved that it was Angel and not that prick. 

“Well, considering last night’s dinner just told me to do one, and then ditched I’d say I was peachy but we both know that would be the fattest lie in history” you groan hoarsely your throat was so extremely sore, it made you sound like a fucking _man_. Angel rests his top set of arms on your legs and rests his second set on his own. 

Angel snickers, even when you’re sick, you’re quick, but he nods in reply he’d heard you from his room, honestly, he’d thought you were being murdered or some shit. Or that maybe, Lucifer forbid, the _strawberry pimp_ had somehow gotten in here. Though he hadn’t known you long, he still liked you, you didn’t piss him off like Vaggie or even Alastor did. 

It’s a hell send to find demons like that! He’d be double damned if he was gonna’ lose you “yeah heard you from my room, shit toots! I thought you were being murdered or getting some good dick-” he stops short to let out an amused laugh before continuing “-I came here to either discover your corpse or congratulate ya’, babe” you let out a tired laugh big mistake on your part the sudden convulsion was making your stomach churn again. 

You groan, that queasy feeling was the least fun thing about life and apparently death as well “ugh no more please for the love of everything _unholy_ no more” you whimper, _you couldn’t possibly throw up anymore._ Angel’s eyebrows pinch together in concern this obviously wasn’t normal but he couldn’t understand what was making you feel so bad. His mind wanders to last night when she’d gambled about in the rain like a crazy person but that doesn’t explain why she’d been throwing up like a firehose. 

Well, your stomach seemed to have other ideas... _hellbent_...on proving you wrong. You quickly spring into action jumping off the toilet and after opening the toilet lid you proceed to throw up once again. Your throat felt sore and honestly, you couldn’t remember eating so much...in fact, you were damn sure you hadn’t. You felt extremely embarrassed to be chucking your guts up in front of Angel like this, you hoped he wouldn’t think less of you. 

Angel holds back a gag but doesn’t leave he can be an ass but he certainly wasn’t heartless. He used one set of his arms to hold your hair back and with the other set, he braced himself against the wall next to the toilet and rubbed your back and just allowed you to get it all out. He’d done this with his sister once but, he hadn’t done it again since then so he just hoped you wouldn’t make this a regular thing, he could only handle so much. 

He’s never seen someone throw up... _So._ _Fucking. Much._ This is so fucking wrong, it just couldn’t be natural, were you ever going to fucking stop?! “Do ya’ want me to tell Chucks that you’re not feelin’ too good, toots?” He asked feeling mildly uncomfortable, he couldn’t understand why you were throwing up so damn much. Your entire body was convulsing violently but after a certain point, there was simply nothing else for you to throw up. 

You shake your head, your body finally decides to come to a natural stopping point you wipe your mouth with some tissue and flush the toilet, you almost slumped against the wall you knew that if you did that you wouldn’t be moving from that spot for the rest of the day you huff getting up shakily, you just _had_ to brush your teeth again. You grab the lip of the sink to keep yourself steady. 

“No don’t bother, I have far too much work to do today, there are still 17 rooms that have wallpaper peeling in them, I can’t let Niffty do that on her own” you reply Angel’s about to retaliate but somehow, he feels that arguing with you would be futile he sighs “Toots, you’re gonna make yourself worse,” He says, rather weakly standing up. He was worried about you; he’s not used to worrying about others. 

At full height he was about 8ft tall and looking down at you, you were obviously around 5ft-5ft4 at a push, secretly he found it quite adorable. He could feel a new nickname forming in the back of his head he watched you sway at the sink he nearly rolled his eyes crossing his second set of arms, this girl can barely stand and yet she’s determined to overwork herself just so the little _tornado_ didn’t have to do the work alone. 

He almost didn’t buy it, there had to be another reason and that’s when it hit him, you weren’t just doing this to help Niffty, you weren’t even doing this just to help Chucks out. _Could you be doing this to spite Smiles?_ Props to you if that’s the reason and he was more than happy to piss off that grinning weirdo but he wasn’t sure how he felt about you making yourself worse just to fuck with him. 

You finished going through the routine of brushing your teeth and using your mouth wash, it still wasn’t enough, you turn to Angel but you're met with a pair of folded arms you slowly look up to see Angel looking exasperated “holy shit your tall” you gawk, he clicks his tongue at you. You had never been stood this close to him before so you’d never really had to break your neck to look at him. 

You mean, yeah sure you knew he was tall but... _holy shit this is just unnecessary!_ You shake your head, fucking bad idea on your part, black spots danced at the edge of your vision and you stumble to one side. Angel catches you before you have a chance to do any real damage to yourself, you were really starting to worry him now. 

You breathe a ‘thank you’ before making your way into your room, daylight had started blaring through the window you’re not sure when you had woken but you could only assume you had been up a while, such a shame that you had spent most of that time bidding your stomach farewell. 

You put on a clean plain black, long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of olive-green yoga pants; you had been surprised that hell had such an item but here you are. You shovel up bits of your hair, from the back of your head and attempt to tie it up only for the hair tie to snap. You groan, this day just keeps getting worse. 

Your shoulders sag, you honestly just wanted to scream but your lack of energy as it is made that impossible Angel let out a loud sigh behind you and suddenly you feel multiple hands on you. One hand is on your left shoulder to keep you steady. The rest are in your hair one brushing your hair the others are tidying after it skilfully, you couldn’t be more grateful to have him with you because you felt like you just weren’t going to get through this day without someone with you. 

Angel let out a sigh as if this were the biggest chore of his life, but in actuality, he had wanted to style your hair the same day he’d met you, if he were entirely honest with himself, he was very jealous of your hair. It was soft and fell through his fingers like silk he liked the length because it meant he was able to style it any way he wanted and with you being ill and all... 

When he had finished with your hair you turn slowly to glance in the mirror your hair had managed to be contained in a cute updo, almost every strand of your hair was pinned up somehow, leaving only a few wispy strands to frame your face. The style was beautiful was the complete opposite to how you felt. 

Seemed Angel actually knew how to style hair, and he’d been considerate and taken most of it away from your face just in case you had another... _episode._ You turn to him with your eyebrow’s raised and mummer a quiet ‘thank you’ once again. Angel simply smooths his hair over and fluffs his chest before nodding he opens the door to your room and looks back. 

“Ya comin’, toots?” He asks you nod once keeping all head movements to a bare minimum until you were sure you weren’t going to vomit anymore. You follow him out you both walk in silence and, unlike Alastor, he takes care not to walk too fast. You’re struggling not to practically cling to him. 

You both reach the lobby to find Husk already drinking, his mood looked foul. Charlie and Vaggie were sat on the sofa together. Niffty was stood with Alastor, she was pointing at certain cleaning supplies and Alastor seemed to be mentally taking note of whatever she was saying. You feel an elbow nudge you a little you look up... _way up._ To see Angel giving you this questioning look. 

You shrug not knowing what he wants, he simply rolls his eyes and descends the stairs but stops halfway down turning his head slightly in your direction it seemed he was waiting for you to follow. You slowly follow behind and he continues. 

As you reach the bottom Niffty looks at you and suddenly she’s right in your face “Oh boy a brand-new day! Are you ready to finish up those rooms?!” Her eye wanders your form and before you can reply her demeanour changes “oh my you look simply awful! Oh! I’m sorry that’s rude!” She rushes her chirpy personality is usually a breath of fresh air to you, but right now? 

She was making you feel dizzy and flushed, warmth was flowing through your body making you feel suffocated the minute the words left Niffty’s mouth Charlie and Vaggie were by your side in an instant like worried mother hens. With the three of them fussing over you, you were just starting to get hotter. 

You sway slightly Angel grabs your arms pulling you away from the frantically worrying girls to sit you down on the sofa he crouches down in front of you again and whispers “Are ya’ sure ya’ wanna’ work today, babe? I just think maybe ya should take it easy” You shake your head defiantly; _you could handle 17 measly rooms._

“I hate to say it, but I have to agree with the pain in the ass, you can’t work like that you’re gonna make yourself worse” Husk chimes, you shake your head again “I can handle 17 rooms” you breathe you can hear him huff loudly he calls your name before adding “you need to rest, Charlie tell her she needs to rest!” 

Angel sighs the static in the air was heavy but you couldn’t bring yourself to be concerned about it anymore, at least not today, you think. A cool pale hand is placed on your forehead you look up to see Charlie frowning, you didn’t like it, it didn’t suit her at all. You’d much rather see her smiling and happy, carefree like she’s supposed to be. 

“Husk’s right you should be in bed, it’s obvious that you’re not well” she chides kindly you felt a bit silly thinking you’d be able to convince her that you were fine, but they were about to find out just how stubborn you are “I’m fine really,” you say softly lacking your usual chipper tone you were lacking the strength to talk let alone add any actual emotion to it. 

She looked very un-convinced Vaggie had crossed her arms, step aside Angel mummy Vaggie has entered the room, “hun, you need to go and rest” you shake your head and she huffs she raises a finger looking as though she were about to start yelling at you but you cut her off the minute she opens her mouth “at least let me finish the rooms I started with Niffty” you plead looking between them both. 

“Then I promise I’ll go and rest, okay?” Vaggie eyes you suspiciously and Charlie turns to face her as if deliberating what you had just said. “You’re not actually considering this, right? She can barely sit straight she needs to go to bed!” Husk berates Charlie sighs turning back to you “you promise that you’ll go and rest afterwards?” She asks giving you these adorable puppy dog eyes you nod slowly “I promise” Charlie nods and reluctantly lets you go. Husk’s muttering to himself in the background. 

As you stand Niffty eyes you warily “Niffty, will you keep an eye on her? Come get me or Charlie if anything happens okay?” Vaggie says expressing every word with clarity and a wide eye to make sure she isn’t misunderstood Niffty nods sporadically before gently taking your hand and leading you toward the stairs. 

But a clawed hand grabs your shoulder sharp nails digging into your soft skin and without any concern for how you’re feeling spins you to face them, _of fucking course_ , it had to be that grinning douche bag! “My dear, you’re looking rather pasty! Perhaps I should come with you to keep an eye on you? Darling Niffty is far too small to catch you if you collapse!” He exclaims loudly his smile, as usual, is wide and he looked far too eager to accompany you, and with everything that had gone down yesterday you really did not want a repeat while you weren’t feeling well. 

His claws were digging into your shoulder so hard that you thought he’d drawn blood you nearly spat the word ‘ _no!_ ’ at him but Vaggie beat you to it “fucking hell no!” Alastor’s grin never changed as he laughed the static in his voice cracked before he answered: “my dear, I do believe I wasn’t asking you!” You couldn’t repeat Vaggie’s words in time before Charlie clears her throat. 

You felt whatever colour you had left drain from your face, Charlie had your best interests at heart but she also tended to place her trust in the wrong people and by the wrong people you meant Alastor “Vaggie, look at her the poor thing can barely stand on her own-” She pauses placing a comforting hand on Vaggie’s shoulder, meanwhile, the clawed hand on yours flexed uncomfortably. 

“-Maybe it would be best if he was there at least he’d see to it that she went to her room to rest should anything happen” she finishes with a soft smile Vaggie looks mortified but doesn’t get to reply “then it’s decided, come on then, darling, if you so insist on working rest assured, I shall watch over you” Alastor announces pulling you close to him and dragging you up the stairs like a rag doll. You did _not_ feel _assured..._

Unknown to you three though, the four that stayed in the lobby were silent for a short beat of time before Husk practically growls in frustration “that was a fucking stupid idea” he grounds out looking at Charlie he really liked the kid and for Charlie to completely disregard what she wanted, baffled him, though Vaggie doesn’t like the way he’s speaking to her, he does have a point 

Charlie’s jaw drops a bit before she replies “what? I just wanted to be sure that she would be okay” she replies “yeah but, el cariño, how many times do we have to tell you Alastor doesn’t do things out of the _kindness_ of his heart?” Vaggie replies as kindly as she can. She couldn’t repeat her cautioned words to her often enough, she loved this girl but she needed to start believing in her a little more. 

Husk huffs “guy doesn’t fuckin’ know the _meaning_ of kindness, and you just left him with probably the nicest person in this hotel accept you” he shakes his head in disbelief, he felt bad for the kid, you looked practically dead to hell and yet you had wanted to work, now that’s something someone would do out of the kindness of their heart. 

You had looked so uncomfortable too, Angel laughed bitterly “ya’ know, Huskie has a point, gonna’ miss the little shortie,” he says, taking long strides toward the bar he knew exactly who to blame if anything happened to you, well you know apart from Alastor that much was obvious. 

Charlie sits down on the sofa feeling deflated even when Vaggie sits next to her and rubs her back comfortingly she still feels awful, could they all be right? Had she really made such a terrible decision in letting Alastor look after you, especially in the state that you were in? She sighed hiding her face in her hands, she guessed all she could do now was wait and see. 

A few hours later you had worked on six rooms, Niffty had worked extra quick and had demanded that you work behind her picking off any bits that she had missed. Thoughtfully so, she didn’t want you to overwork yourself, she was already flattered that you had insisted to continue working in such a state simply to ensure she didn’t do it alone. 

And for once you hadn’t fought her on it, you knew you’d throw up out of your eyeballs, which you weren’t doubting the possibility of since this is hell and all if you were up and down like a yo-yo peeling wallpaper your hands were still stinging from the cuts you’d accumulated yesterday. Alastor, the smug bastard, was sat in a high back chair, with one leg delicately crossed at the knee. His hands folded in his lap. 

His smile hadn’t faltered, not once, you almost wished you could see into that twisted mind of his. But then again maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, in fact, _it definitely wasn’t._ But you did honestly wonder what he was thinking so hard about right now. You were struggling to avoid glancing at him every now and then and every time you did it was met with an annoying response: 

_“Are you alright, my dear?”_

_“Do you need to sit down, dear?”_

_“Are you struggling over there?”_

You try to shrug off the feeling of his gaze but it just wasn’t going away, cold chills were skittering up and down your spine in rapid succession you just couldn’t help but think that he was getting some sick _enjoyment_ from watching you suffer through this simply because you didn’t want to let anyone down. The non-existent energy you'd had prior was depleting to dangerously low levels at this point and you were positive he knew it. 

Alastor leaned back though his eyes and ears were trained on you his mind was somewhere else, he may have to lay off his... _secret recipe_...But at least now he knew what it did, you were usually so cautious with your food, it had amused him that you couldn’t smell what he had added to your food alone. 

And he had been slightly worried that you would have, considering how you had reacted to the storm but you hadn’t noticed anything and even though you hadn’t eaten it all you still seemed to have an extreme reaction to it. Coming back to himself he eyed you with a mischievous smile. You looked so endearing as you swayed slightly. He knew you were close to collapse; he could hear it in the faint beat of your heart and your shallow breaths. 

Of course, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do this often lest it ruin your vital organs he didn’t want to damage you, to damage such a dame really would be an unforgivable act. But it did make him feel incredibly and inexplicably warm inside to see you so weak and oblivious. His little _damsel._ It was a shame though that it had interfered with his plans for today but there was always tomorrow. 

You and Niffty finished the very last room in record time, considering that when she’d finished peeling off the last piece of wallpaper, she had helped you go back over the room to pick off anything left over. You vaguely hear her talking excitedly to Alastor but the last of your energy drained from your body. Your vision blurred and suddenly you were seeing double of everything. 

You feel tingles flow down to your fingertips and toes making them eventually go numb, dark spots begin to dance around the edge of your vision again, your knees buckle and gravity claims you wrapping its arms around you like it had been an old friend. You remember thinking that you wished your boyfriend was here, even though you weren’t dating anymore, you missed him. He made you feel safe, you certainly didn’t feel that way when consciousness left your body. 

Vaggie had felt extremely uncomfortable as the hours ticked by Angel and Husk had started watching the TV for once finding common ground and Charlie had been sat with her head in her hands from the minute, you’d left their sight. Vaggie had been sat chewing her nails the atmosphere was tense and extremely silent, even the TV was muted, Husk had insisted on it. For reasons unknown. 

And when his head whipped around in the direction of the upstairs corridor that you had disappeared down it had forcefully grabbed hers and Angel’s attention “what is it, Huskie?” Angel asked looking confused Husk’s eyebrows were drawn dawn and an angry sneer had formed on his face. He looked positively terrifying, and it worried them to see him looking so angry. 

He hadn’t replied instead he had raced toward the stairs and Vaggie had followed soon after, she could hear Angel and Charlie behind her but she was rushing to keep up with Husk the guy was _damned fast_ when he wanted to be. When she finally got a clear view in front of her she understood immediately why Husk hadn’t bothered to reply. 

You were passed out in Alastor’s arms, you looked so pale, so vulnerable, it made her shiver in disgust to think they had left you alone with him in a state like this. “What the fuck did you do, you asshat?!” Husk yelled his hands were balled into fists Vaggie was surprised his rage might have rivalled her own except she was already summoning weapons her favourite spear she might as well have Alastor’s name etched into it. 

Angel shivered he couldn’t stand seeing you look so helpless in the arms of... _him._ He walked confidently up to Smiles, as much as the guy freaked the shit out of him, “I’ll take, little shortie, here to her room, alright Chucks?” He knew asking her, Alastor would immediately have to give you over if she agreed. 

Charlie nods adding “sure Angel, we’ll be there in a bit” Angel nods turning back to Alastor, fear stabs him, that smile was less toothy and more irritated and yet through gritted teeth he says “Be careful with _our_ little _darling_ fox, she seems to have overworked herself” He hands you carefully over. 

Once, Angel, has you situated in a position that was more comfortable for him you cuddle into his fur a bit at this Alastor’s grin stretches over his teeth intimidatingly and he purposely snaps’ his neck the sickening crunch echoes around the room his clawed fingers twitch and flex as if he were about to snatch you back into his arms. 

Angel cringed and quickly turned away from him walking briskly down the hallway toward your room. He eyed you resting peacefully in his four arms, he felt incredibly protective of you, he supposed now he understood what Vaggie felt toward you, you had slightly similar characteristics to his twin sister. 

You didn’t wholly remind him of her, but he felt that if the two of you met, you’d get along famously. He reaches your room and doesn’t even hesitate in opening the door and placing you in your bed. You looked terrible; your acid-washed green skin almost looked grey he was impressed that you’d been able to last long enough to finish all of the work you needed to do you were a stubborn bitch he’d give you that. 

He sat on the floor by your bed and waited for the others to arrive, knowing full well that they wouldn’t be able to get the full story until they heard it from the horse's mouth. That mouth being yours, it was silent for a little while until he heard quiet mumbling coming from you and thinking that you were awake, he says “shit toots, that didn’t take long” but when he doesn’t get a reply, he looks back to see you still very much passed out. 

He frowns, he could have sworn you’d said something after a few minutes he heard it again much clearer this time ‘ _Dave?_ ’ who the fuck is ‘ _Dave?'_ He doesn’t have a clue, but if he had to guess it must be someone you’d known when you were alive. That’s cute he guessed; he was going to find it difficult keeping it to himself though. 

They all arrive shortly after, Alastor’s demeanour was completely back to normal Vaggie glances at Angel and they share this look of understanding for a brief moment. But Husk was looking absolutely steamed, he felt like asking but he knew he shouldn’t he watched as Husk parked himself on the vanity stool at the foot of her bed, he looked more concerned about her than he did about anything else in the hotel. 

You hear fuzzy background noise as you start to wake, background noise that starts to become clearer, it’s quiet chatter you force your heavy ass eyelids to open and see Angel sat next to your bed on the floor, Charlie and Vaggie were stood next to your nightstand talking quietly to each other. Stood in your doorway was Alastor. And sat on the vanity stool at the end of your bed was a very worried Husk. 

Alastor was staring at you as per usual his lips or should you say teeth? Start moving as he talks “Well, my dear, you gave us quite the scare for a while” he teased causing the others to look at you, you blink for once thankful that he had lowered his voice an octave. 

You try to sit up, but the room starts spinning wildly, forcing you to lay back down and cover your eyes with your hand “Hun!?” Vaggie’s voice sounds alarmed you’d answer her if you could, but you’re starting to over salivate, a tell-tale sign that you’re ready to visit the loo again. You take in a few deep breaths waiting for the feeling to pass. 

And it does for a brief second you peek through your fingers to meet Vaggie’s worried gaze you smile reassuringly but that smile was premature, the sick feeling returns in full force due to the wild spinning of the room. You scramble out of bed nearly taking your bedsheets with you. You practically trip over your own feet as you drop painfully to your knees at the toilet. 

You vomit violently once again, this time it caused pain like no other to shoot through your abdomen continuously, you recognize Angel's hands rubbing your back and thankfully this time this episode is much shorter but the pain remained after you had finished throwing up. 

“Ah” you whine pathetically you grip your stomach and hunch over “toots?” Angel says softly this time a sharp cramp causes you to screech into the crook of your elbow “Fuck sake what’s wrong with her!” Husk shouts in concern jumping up from his seat he didn’t know how to help and it was making him feel useless, Angel’s brain, however, sprang into action. 

“Charlie, I need you to grab me some water, and whatever painkillers we have, Vaggie I need you to get extra blankets and pillows, Huskie I need you to grab an empty bucket just in case she needs to be sick again.” He says and with utter ease, he lifts your tensed form off the floor and tucks you into your bed. 

He notices that no one’s moved, in fact, their jaws are hanging open he rolls his eyes and with his hands on his hips says in a frustrated tone “like now!” Immediately they spring into action “Angel it hurts!” You yell you're moving about your bed constantly trying to soothe the pain but getting nowhere. Angel sits next to you on the bed sighing he rubs your back trying to ease whatever pain you’re in. 

He tuts “don’t expect this treatment all the time, babe” he grumbles he ain’t anyone’s nurse you laugh despite your pain, you never expected this treatment in the first place. He was helping though the feeling was dulling into more of an ache than a shooting pain. Dave used to do stuff like this for you during your time of the month, it never grossed him out, it just made him feel bad for you. 

Vaggie was the first one back to your room, followed by Husk and finally Charlie. The bucket was sat down next to your bed, the extra blankets and cushions provided more comfort but what you had been most excited for was the water and painkillers. 

Once you had taken them the panicked atmosphere calmed “you alright, kid?” Husk asks he’s stood that the foot of your bed looking misplaced the great thing about hell was that everything seemed to be at some kind of extra strength so the painkillers had kicked in straight away you nod at him. His eyes softened and whispered “good.” 

Charlie lets out a breath “Okay that’s it I’m putting my foot down you’re staying in bed until you get better” she says wiggling her index finger at you, you smile tiredly “okay Charlie” you reply she nods her head like she’d accomplished some important mission. A few wisps of her hair fall into her face. 

Vaggie turns to you kneeling down by your bed she pushes a strand of your hair from your forehead that had managed to escape the pins Angel had put it in. “Get some rest hun, one of us will wake you when it’s time to eat, and we’ll all check on you from time to time, to see if you need anything, okay?” She insisted you nod slowly. 

Everyone starts to filter out of your room, Alastor grabs the door handle just as Niffty walks under his arm to leave the room he looks back to you and with that huge shit-eating grin, “have a lovely sleep, my _favourite_ darling fox” he whispers. It was so quiet you were surprised you caught it. But you do and it sends a chill straight through you. 

You didn’t have it in you to argue or cringe or even to simply react instead you turn over facing your back to the door you drift slowly back into sleep exhaustion settles into your bones, and you let the inky blackness take over. For the most part, your sleep is completely unburdened by dreams, there were a few memories thrown into the mix of blackness but other than that you slept deeply. 

A hand shake’s you gently, your eyes crack open tiredly your starting to think that no matter how much sleep you get you’re constantly going to feel tired. You see Husk looking sheepish and rubbing the back of his neck nervously “hey uh you’ve been asleep for a few hours, so Charlie sent me up here to see how you’re doing and give you some water” He rambles you groan slightly sitting up against your pillows. You take the glass from his hand and gulp the water down greedily. 

You hadn't realized how dehydrated you were but it made sense considering how much you’d thrown up. You mumble a quiet ‘thank you’ and give him a lazy smile his eyes dart about your room as if he’s uncomfortable to be stood in it alone with you “uh foods gonna’ be done soon, I don’t know what they plan to do about it but they asked me to let you know, is there anything else ya need, kid?” 

You think for a minute and a smile lights up your face, “you know if we had a TV in here you could stay and watch movies with me, it’d be nice to have some company” you say batting your eyelashes at him. He rolls his eyes and with a sigh replies with “give me two minutes.” He leaves the room muttering to himself all the way down the corridor and back down to the lobby Charlie’s stood at the foot of the stairs. 

“Hey, how is she?” She asks her eyes fixed on the corridor he’d just come back from, he shrugs “she’s fine but she’s expecting me back soon, do you guys have a spare TV, DVD player and movies we can watch?” He asks walking around her to get to the bar pulling out a cheap beer he turns to face her waiting for a reply “uh yeah? Let me get them from the cupboard, it’s upstairs come on” she beckons. 

Once she’s pulled them from the storage cupboard, she glances at him “Are you going to be staying with her? Keeping her company?” She questions Husk huffs but nods. She was expecting him back soon and here he was stood with Charlie being interrogated like a criminal...not far off but still. Surely there was a better time for all of this? 

“Yeah, I am, and I’m going back now, try not to forget that she needs to eat too, yeah?” He throws his comment into the air offhandedly, he watches Charlie nod frantically as she runs off back down to the lobby, he sighs rubbing a hand roughly over his face he grabs the trolly and pulls it along behind him trying to walk quickly back to your room. 

You wait in your bed patiently twiddling your thumbs and a few minutes later Husk arrives with a trolly full of stuff, on top of it is a TV with a few DVD’s, a DVD player, and of course, nothing is ever complete without his _signature_ cheap beer. After setting it all up and putting a DVD in he’s about to sit on the floor with his drink when you stop him. 

“Don’t be silly Husk come and sit on the other side of the bed, it’s way more comfortable than the floor,” you say fluffing up the cushions for you both. Husk had questioned why he’d arrived in hell with so much fur, but he was finding that he was thankful for it now as he sat next to you on the bed feeling his face heat up, he was only too glad that you couldn’t see it. 

The minute he sits down next to you, you bury him in blankets and shift a little closer to him, you could feel his body heat rolling off of him in waves it was lovely and warm “Hey isn’t that a bit close, k-kid?” He could curse himself for stuttering but he’s grateful when you don’t seem to notice. You shake your head “no this is nice! Unless you're uncomfortable in which case...do you want me to move?” You ask dejectedly you looked as though he’d just kicked your puppy. 

He grunts, awh come on, kid, you’re killing me with the puppy dog eyes, he thinks rolling his eyes “No! Uh-...no it’s fine, just stay there, no point in making you more sick by forcing you to move now” he mumbles you grin up at him, making his face heat up again you wrap your arms around one of his own, hugging it to you. He sighs leaning back against the headboard allowing you to hug his arm. 

The movie starts and you both settle under the mass of blankets and watch in silence the only sound being made was from the TV and the occasional sloshing of Husk's drink as he too occasional sips but being practically pressed up against him you could hear his heavy breathing too. The movies were old and you safely assumed they may have been from Husk’s era they all seemed extremely interesting and it made you wonder more about him; he wasn't exactly an open book. You were both currently watching _The Exorcist._

You could safely say that Horror movies from your era had nothing on the classics, sure they didn’t have much in the way of special effects but the acting was less infuriating and more convincing. Husk looks down at you nuzzling into his arm “can I ask you somethin’, kid?” He questions his eyebrows are pinched together you look up at him in wonder “sure, go for it!” You reply. 

He clears his throat sitting up a little “I know this is probably a sensitive subject for you, but I was wondering if you remembered anything about your life?” He asks lightly gripping one of your hands and turning it over to study in his clawed palm your fingers twitch every time he brushes a thumb over your palm “I remember a good majority of it, some of my favourite memories happened before I turned six-years-old" you admit quietly that year had been rough for you as were the two years that followed after. 

“Why that specific age?” He asks tracing the lines on your palm “my mother died when I was six, my father refused to talk to me for two years after, I always felt like it was my fault...” you mumble staring off into the distance, at some dark corner of your room. Husk frowns “what was she like? Your mother?” He asks he didn’t want to talk about your dad the guy sounded like an ass and he didn’t need to get all riled up again. 

You smile widely “She was amazing, so was so nice and caring, she was sometimes super shy and all, but she was kind to everyone even when they didn’t deserve it. I’m glad she’s not down here, no offence or anything but she wouldn’t have made it down here on her own, not for long” you had such fond memories of her having been the only other female in your family for a while...until. 

Husk grunts he lets go of your hand and awkwardly ruffles your hair just dodging your ears. You pout when he pulls back and he chuckles “she sounds great, kid, did you have any siblings?” He asks turning back to the TV keeping an ear pivoted to you “yeah three older brothers, though I was only ever close to one of them his name was Michael-” you laugh unexpectedly nearly making him jump “-sorry it’s just, he and Angel would get along really well, he also flirts with anything on two legs!” You exclaim giving him a teasing look. 

He grunts, that damn spider doesn’t know when to take piss off for an answer “shut up, if he ends up here you better keep him the hell away from me!” He yells feeling disgruntled but happy that your mood had lifted you giggle “don’t worry, I’ll pry him off of you myself if I have to! I’ll be your hero don’t you worry” he snorts rolling his eyes again muttering to himself. You both settle back into watching the movie but the silence is short-lived. Halfway through the movie your door opens letting in a slither of light. 

And then your actual bedroom light was switched on you and Husk protest rather loudly to this, pausing the movie because what’s the point in watching it if it isn’t dark, right? Alastor’s signature grin greets you both as you turn to look at him, you slump back against your pillows a bit letting go of Husk’s arm “what do ya’ fucking want now you irritating-” you cut Husk of by giving his ribs a soft elbow jab. 

Husk stops talking giving you this grumpy look, he looks as though he could start pouting and that’s a funny image to you. Alastor laughs obnoxiously “why, my dear friend, I’ve come to serve our sweet little sick fox her food, she mustn't go hungry now” he boasts as if he were doing you a great service, as far as you were concerned, he could shove it up his ass. You weren’t eating anything he made. You turn to Husk with wide eyes and he looks just as put out as you do. 

He rolled in a little dining trolly and on it was a steaming hot bowl of soup and some bread you squint at it, suspicious, unbeknown to you, you had every right to be. You look back up at Alastor with a scrutinizing gaze “what is it?” You ask with a lilt in your voice. It looked lovely but you felt more than just a little cautious, you grip one of Husk’s hands under the blankets for support if anything else he jumps but he doesn’t shake you off, you assume that he doesn’t mind very much. 

You glance back at the food, he’s picking up a napkin and placing it over your lap when he replies “It’s leek soup, made for you, specially, my dear” Husk let out a scoff of derision “yeah probably poisoned or some shit, like the kid hasn’t got enough to deal with” he grumbles quietly sparing you a glance and giving your hand a gentle squeeze he wouldn’t let anything happen to you, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he did. You smirk at him. 

“Why my good friend, I’m deeply hurt, do you think so little of me, to hurt my favourite darling employee?!” Alastor gasps feigning hurt _"wouldn’t put it past you...”_ Husk mumbles more quietly turning his head slightly toward you making you chuckle. Alastor places the steaming hot bowl in your lap carefully and puts the plate of bread on the nightstand next to you. 

A high back chair seemed to appear out of nowhere and Alastor, without a word, sat in it. Crossing his legs delicately at the knee, clasping his hands together in his lap you and Husk stared at him in disbelief “you’re staying?” Husk asks in disbelief raising an eyebrow “why of course, I need to make sure that our little darling eats, and doesn’t have any problems” he replies as if it were obvious. 

Husk growls “What? And you think I can’t do that by myself? Don’t you think if she wanted you to stay, she would have asked?” Husk states angrily Alastor laughs stiffly, he’s not amused by Husk especially not right now. It was annoying enough to him that Husk was sharing the same space as you but now Husk felt that he was more capable of looking after you than he was. 

“What and she asked you to stay, my good friend?” Alastor retorted his static crackling in the air Husk puffs out his chest proudly squeezing your hand once more, as you let them bicker while inspecting your food “yeah, actually she did, prick” Alastor simply smiles, it’s forced and strained but for the sake of not making you more ill than you were he tried to keep himself calm, keeping his static light, barely caressing your skin. 

It was becoming clear to you that he wouldn’t leave until you had finished eating you eye the bowl in your lap warily before taking a deep breath, inhaling the contents you couldn’t smell anything remotely strange. That didn’t mean it hadn’t been tampered with though it just meant you couldn’t _smell_ anything wrong. 

You bottle your nerves, letting go of Husk’s hand reluctantly you grab a piece of bread with any luck the bread would soak up anything you could be capable of throwing back up, with a final glance at Husk as if telling him to wish you luck telepathically, you dip your bread into your soup and start eating. You pray and hope to fucking Lucifer that you don’t drop dead or start vomiting again. 

You pull a series of annoyed faces, it was good, it was good and that smug bastard sat in that stupid chair knew it! You huff in annoyance as you finished with the bread you start eating the soup as it is. It reminds you of home when you got sick this is what your mother would make you, it was your favourite, you’d often ask for it even if you weren’t sick. After she died you hadn’t been able to eat it again until you met Dave, his mother had loved you so much it was like you were part of the family, when you got sick, she’d send him to you with her homemade soup, she made it the same way when you’d first had it, it had brought up so many memories you’d cried. 

The thought made you sad, you vaguely hear talking in the corridor progressively getting closer to your room but you’re not paying close enough attention to it, you finish eating and put the bowl on your nightstand as well. Pulling your knees up to your chest you bury your face in the blankets that covered them. Hiding the hot tears that trailed down your cheeks you can hear Husk shifting around next to you as grabs one of your hands again. You felt so _vulnerable._

Your door opens and you can hear Vaggie talking “I just want to check on her, hun” you hear her footsteps stop in the doorway of your room, the clinking of the bowl and plate signifies that Alastor is probably putting them back on the trolly “Hey, are you okay?” She calls to you saying your name softly. 

You let out a muffled sob and the flood gates open suddenly there are multiple hands on you, you recognize them as Husks clawed hand on your back and Vaggie’s soft hands are stroking your hair and left arm. “Hey, shh, what’s wrong, hun?” She coos. “I miss her, Vaggie-” you whisper still crying heavily “- _Why does it hurt so much!?”_ You wail indigently it was so unfair to have one of the only other people that cared about you ripped away from you so early in life and the guilt you’d had to deal with for years after was too much. 

You feel something big, soft and warm wrap around you and when you finally look up, through your blurred vision you see one of Husk's bright red wings carefully wrapped around your tiny form. He gave you a slow blink before patting your head awkwardly “Just reminds you that you still care, grab on to that feeling and _never_ let it go.” He says gruffly he says your name so softly you can’t remember him ever calling you anything but kid it was nice. 

You wipe your eyes and nod none-committedly you lean into his side and he, hesitantly, wraps an arm around your small form keeping his wing around you also. You look around the room feeling awkward Alastor hadn’t left yet, his smile had become closed-lipped, however, Charlie was stood in the doorway giving you a sympathetic smile she couldn’t imagine the hurt you must feel every time you’re reminded of your mother, it would kill her to lose her own mother she couldn’t say that she envied your situation. 

Vaggie gives you tight hug and whispers in your ear “If you need to talk, please come and get me, I don’t care if I’m busy or sleeping or hell even showering, I will make time for you, hun” you nod against her shoulder and you couldn't be more grateful for her offer, she really was the older sister you’d never had but always wanted. 

Vaggie and Charlie leave shortly after making sure you’re okay, followed by Alastor who leaves without a word, although he does spare you a long glance before turning off the light and shutting the door behind him. 

Husk turns to you and it’s almost like he knew you weren’t ready to talk about it “you wanna finish watching the movie, hell I’ll even let you pick the next one, sound good?” He asks desperately wanting the atmosphere to lighten a little you’d been cuddled into his side ever since your small outburst, it was making his freaking heart pound and he wasn’t sure how he felt about this development. 

You nod he pushes play on the remote and you both settle back into the movie. But Husk doesn’t move his wing from its position around you which you find extremely comforting when the movie’s over he looks down at you, you’re playing with the bow around his neck “you okay?” He asks absentmindedly rubbing your arm you nod against his chest “thanks for staying Husk, I don’t think I could be left alone right now, it makes me feel better to know you’re here.” 

That reply had surprised him, he hugged you tightly to him nuzzling into your hair “sure, no problem...” it’s silent for a minute and you’re about to get up to pick the next movie when you feel something wet and sandpapery barely touch your forehead. You squint your eyes in confusion before you hum “Husk...did you just...lick me?” You ask slowly you hear him groan “shut up...it’s a cat thing...” he replies. You can tell it’s a touchy subject so you just decide to let it go, you didn’t want to embarrass him or anything. You end up watching one more movie with Husk before you end up falling asleep in the middle of the movie. Led on him, of course. 

Husk looks down at you despite how flustered he felt over the fact that he’d let his guard down earlier and fucking licked your forehead, he could just die all over again, it was a cat instinct in him it was one way of showing affection but he’s glad you didn’t know that. When the credits roll, he notices you’ve fallen asleep. 

He huffs a quiet laugh and he struggles to remove himself and his wing at first but once he’s free he climbs down from the bed and turns the TV off. Moving it to stand against the wall of your room he walks around to your side of the bed and tucks you in giving your head a light pet. He then leaves as quietly as possible. Once the door to your room clicks closed, he makes his way, albeit unsteadily, toward the lobby. 

Angel, Vaggie and Charlie are just chilling down there chatting when they see Husk, he can almost feel the bombardment of questions before they’re even asked: “Is she okay?” Charlie rushes nearly stumbling over her words in her effort to get them out “yeah she fell asleep while we were watching movies.” He replies reaching the bottom of the stairs he thinks back to their conversation earlier you’d seemed so happy he never would have guessed that your mood could have switched so quickly. 

Walking over to the bar he hears Vaggie talking “was she any better after we left or...?” Her question trailed off Husk sighs “she said she was happy I hadn’t left, wouldn’t let go of me until she fell asleep, worried the shit out of me” he answered leaning on his elbows he rubs his faces with his hand tiredly, he looks around semi wondering where that _insufferable prick_ was and semi not giving a shit, as long as he’s leaving her alone, he doesn’t care what he did. 

“Alastor went to his room after bringing her dishes down, if that's what you’re wondering,” Charlie says noticing his attention flitting across the lobby. His eyes land on her and after realizing what she’d said he shrugs his shoulders. It only takes about half an hour before they all decide to go to bed. All of them secretly hoping you’d be back to your old self tomorrow morning. Though they _severely_ doubted it. 

_It was amazing the kind of effect you’d had on them after only meeting them a few days ago._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys, back at ya with another update! I hope you like this chapter, there will be another early update for you to look forward to tomorrow as I managed to get chapter seven written and edited. Let me know if you spot any mistakes, all comments are greatly appreciated. And as always Thanks for reading, guys.
> 
> See you all again tomorrow!


	7. Fesh air is hard to come by...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake, feeling much better but why? You could almost swear someone was in your room last night...But no matter you decide to treat the others to breakfast!
> 
> You also take a shopping trip which goes somewhat wrong. But at least you're getting closer to Husk, and he was actually opening up to you.
> 
> Much to a certain Radio Demons dislike...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Heavy Editing📢 This Chapter may appear drastically changed and much longer, that is because the storyline I had in mind has also changed this wasn't planned but will make for a more interesting read.

Alastor sat on the worn sofa next to his bed it would seem, to any outsider, that he wasn’t doing anything but that’s where they would be wrong, he was listening, he had been for a while, he was making positively sure that everyone was in bed and sleeping. His ears were twitching more so than usual, it was true that he had incredible control over his body, ears included, he was able to keep them still for long periods of time but when he was alone, he was able to relax and let them do as they pleased. 

He picked up the white bottle of clear liquid that sat on the nightstand next to him, time to go... _cure_...his little darling after seeing you get close to Husker today, he was immediately regretting using this _specific ingredient_ on you, he had hoped it would make you weak enough to need him which it had at first but he also hadn't counted on just how protective...dear Husker had gotten. He’s not sure when he started calling you his ‘ _little darling_ ’ but he had found himself doing it more and more often, he didn’t know why. He hated not knowing these things. Just what, _exactly_ , were you doing to him? 

Could it be that you had some secret power? Or worse yet could it be that you were secretly a Succubus? He wanted to doubt it, but there were quite a few Succubi out there that were foxes it made sense that you could be one as you weren’t overly sure what type of demon you were yet. You hadn’t fazed into your full demon form yet as you had been immediately sheltered from the stresses of hell, so there would be no telling what you could be capable of until that happens. 

The thought of seeing your demon form excited him terribly, he’d love to know what such a timid mind could be capable of but alas without being exposed to stress constantly he feared he would never find out...it sparked a whirlwind of ideas within his mind. His head was currently a chaotic mess of thoughts and ideas all of them about one sole demon residing in this hotel. 

He wandered down the numerous hallways making sure to pass by each room that had an occupant double-checking that they had all retired to their own rooms before reaching yours. He didn’t knock knowing you were fast asleep he simply walked straight in. There you were, your long orange and yellow hair was splayed out all over the mess of pillows, your hands were clenched, holding fistfuls of blankets. 

An adorable little expression on your face was soon replaced by a frown, your eyebrows drawn down dreaming of something apparently unpleasant. He could see your eyelashes fluttering against your cheeks like butterfly wings. His smile turned soft, such a _lovely_ little fox, he thought as he approached you slowly trying not to make too much noise, he knew that if you woke in a state in which you were actually aware, he wouldn’t be able to give you the medicine and he’d have to deal with another day of you bonding with Husk, he was not fond of that idea at all. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to you. 

And for a minute he simply watched your sleeping form, you looked ever so peaceful, he stroked your soft cheek with the back of a single calloused finger before opening the bottle in his hand and placing it on your nightstand along with the bottle cap. With his now free hands, he lifts your sleeping form up to cradle you against him gently “Little fox?” He whispered trying to get you to wake just a bit, he’d much rather give you the medicine in a state where he knew you wouldn’t choke on it, it would be a huge waste of medicine if you choked on it. When all you did was stir, he smirked, letting out a quiet laugh he tried again. 

“Little fox?” He says again a little louder but not by much he moved a few strands of hair away from your face and you cracked open your green eyes a bit, he knew immediately that your brain was still technically asleep. Your eyes were vacant but searching he knew that he should get this done quickly so that you could go back to sleep almost instantly because if you woke up too much, he would not have a good enough excuse for why he was cradling you in his arms 

He knew you would have questioned his presence immediately had you been even _remotely_ aware, so he was glad that for once you were far too tired to question anything it gave him time to admire your strikingly green eyes, he had collected many over the years yours would certainly be a prize, but he supposed he could make do with admiring them as they are. He was satisfied that you wouldn’t remember any of this. You make an affirmative sound “I have medicine here that you need to take, my dear, can you do that for me?” He whispers. 

Once you nod, he summons a spoon, the great thing about his multiple abilities is that he could pour the medicine onto the spoon and feed it to you all without actually having to remove his hands from you. Which he was quickly finding he didn’t want to do any time soon, curious that he should be overcome by such a feeling as he rather disliked being touched he rather hoped that the odd feeling would pass at some point but for now it had free rein on his thoughts and body. 

“Open up, my darling,” He coaxes nicely in your exhausted state you do as you’re asked, he shakes his head with a huge smile on his face. Making the bottle and spoon disappear. He could have just as easily poisoned you and you would have been none the wiser the thought almost made him laugh if it didn’t send a thrill down his spine. Looking down at you again, he stroked your cheek once more, definitely my little damsel, he thinks fondly. 

He sits there holding you for just a bit longer before laying you back down into your bed covering you with the blankets. He turns to leave your room closing the door behind him with a quiet click. On the walk back to his own room he thought about events that had happened earlier in the day. 

For example, when you had passed out, he had been fully expecting it, of course, he had caught you before you had the chance to hit the ground, he blushed slightly at the memory you had looked so vulnerable, much less like a fox and more like a baby bird, he had taken great enjoyment in seeing such vulnerability in you. 

You had felt startlingly light in his arms as well, it forced him to realize that though it looked like you ate a lot at mealtimes, you could probably stand to eat a little more he had been able to feel your ribs through your shirt and skin and he felt as though that was quite unnatural. He would have to make sure you are more well-fed from now on, he could have you passing out all the time. 

But when that _effeminate fellow_ had taken you from his arms when you had nuzzled into him, he had felt anger like no other, he wanted to steal you away there and then. But again, he hadn’t known why he had brushed it off just like last time. And then you spent time with Husker, that would have been fine usually, but he had been sat on the other side of the bed, extremely close to you, he was certain you must have been snuggling into him as well. 

He clenches his fists at his sides this reaction was completely involuntary he’d been trying to figure out why his body was responding in the way that is had been, he prided himself on having great control over his actions but lately, his body had been acting without his permission, he couldn’t understand why. He was acting irrationally and he could only blame it on something you had done. It must be your fault; he had been fine before he met you. 

He often found himself thinking that he didn’t want you getting too close to the others, he didn’t want you picking up on their bad habits, Husker’s drinking, Angel’s lewd _flirting_ , that moth demons obvious anger issues and her lack of smiling. Yet, these three demons seemed to be the three you were already closest to and your bonds with them were only getting stronger with the more time you spent with them. His smile twitched at the corners of his mouth; he didn’t know why he _cared_ so much. Maybe he was falling ill himself? 

He wasn’t lying when he said you were his favourite, all of your reactions were always spot on, sometimes they were different, you seemed to _plague_ his mind a lot more than he would have liked, because he nearly passed his room, walking inside and getting ready to get whatever sleep he could, he could think only one thing. There would be no getting rid of him now. _Not at all._ Whatever it took to get your attention he’d do it, he’d annoyed you, push all of your buttons, do anything. _He would do anything..._

You wake, feeling amazingly better, honestly, it was almost like yesterday never even happened if it hadn’t been for the embarrassing memories of Husk licking your forehead you could have chalked yesterday up to being some fever dream but as that had happened...you found yourself blushing thinking about it. 

Shaking the memory from your head your turn your face toward your window. Daylight had yet to filter through the dirty glass and when you looked at the time on your new alarm clock, Niffty had given it to you when you were cleaning up the rooms the other day. She seemed to be finding all kinds of strange objects in this hotel. 

The bright numbers read 6:35 you thought about just going back to sleep, but you felt so refreshed like there was a new pep in your step. You shrug to yourself and jump out of bed and skip into the bathroom, you take a quick shower and brush your teeth. You think back to last night, despite feeling much better you vaguely remember waking up and seeing someone in your room, it had been so dark and you had also been extremely tired so you simply shrug thinking nothing of it for now. Perhaps you had simply been dreaming. 

After getting dressed, you shoved on a black baggy crop top, some black sweat pants and a pair of white trainers that had thick soles giving you little bit more height in vain you were trying to be a little taller so that Angel didn’t make you feel like a midget but you just knew this wasn’t going to help, but hey here’s to trying, right? You dry and style your hair you decide to style it into two space buns leaving two thin strands of hair out to frame your face. And you decide to go the whole hog adding a little bit of make-up, in a natural style. 

Well, as natural as it can get when you looked like acid-washed Shrek. You scoff at yourself before leaving the room taking a slow walk to the Lobby. Apparently, nobody’s up yet. You check the kitchen thinking that maybe Alastor would be up but no he wasn’t you were the first one up. Suddenly an amazing idea hits you right in the face. 

Well not literally, of course, because that would have been painful and you’ve been through enough. You check the fridge quickly; you’ll have to go shopping today to get food but you have everything you need right now. You decide you’re going to make everyone breakfast as a thank you for all their help and support yesterday. Especially Angel, Husk and Vaggie. They had done more for you than you could have possibly asked for. 

You start prepping and making the food the smell of the eggs and bacon sizzling in the frying pan smelled amazing and you were already starting to get hungry, you were also really excited to see the looks on their faces. You just know that Husk, Vaggie and Angel are going to be over the moon to eat food that wasn’t made by Alastor. But you’re also considerate of him as well, despite how much he creeps you out, and the fact that he’d literally kicked a ladder from underneath you, he had still had the decency to look after you yesterday you supposed you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt for that. 

Charlie wakes up nuzzled into Vaggie’s arms and a huge smile spreads across her face as she looks up. Vaggie was already awake staring down at her adoringly making her blush brightly “good morning” she mumbles rubbing the sleep from her eyes “good morning, mi Amor” Vaggie replies gently placing to soft fingers under her chin and lifting her head up to steal a quick kiss. 

Charlie hums as they part, both of them get up and start to get dressed, they would have stayed in bed much longer, usually, but they wanted to make sure you were okay and they were damned sure that they had slept in long enough for everyone else to be up by now. 

Angel and Husk are sat at the bar waiting for everyone else to wake up, including you of course. The atmosphere was tense Husk wasn’t even drinking “do you think, toots is feeling any better today?” Angel asks sounding worried but trying to hide it Husk shrugs “I doubt it, I don’t know what’s wrong with her but I doubt someone gets over something that bad in one day” he grunts he was secretly hoping that you had gotten better overnight, as far as he was concerned he hated seeing you looking so weak and depressed. 

He’d gotten used to seeing you laughing at the dinner table, playing musical chairs, as silly as he thought it was, he missed seeing you go about your day with Niffty while he was stood behind the bar, you’d only been sick for one day and he was sure that everyone was already missing having you around. But if you were still unwell, he’d be happy to spend the day with you again, watching horror movies and...all that... 

Alastor and Niffty wander down the stairs, the previously mentioned demon receives stony glares from Angel and Husk the atmosphere becomes cold, chilly and un-welcoming. “Good morning, everyone!” Alastor greets enthusiastically he seemed extra smiley today, more so than usual and that’s saying a lot. Husk sneers at him top lip curling into a snarl before completely dropping, his ears twitch slightly as he hears Charlie and Vaggie making their way to the lobby. 

Angel looks up to see them walking down the stairs he smirks “well look who finally decided to get out of bed” Angel laughs only to have to duck extremely fast as a dagger came dangerously to piercing his skull, he turns to look at Vaggie with wide eyes she looked smug as anything. He let out a resounding ‘hey!’ And for a minute the air became lighter but the question was playing on all of their lips, their eyes were darting to the upstairs corridor that your room was on. 

“Has anyone seen her yet?” Vaggie asked seriously, the happy expression dropped from Angel’s face and it was almost like a bucket of ice had been poured down their backs they all shake their heads Charlie turns to Vaggie feeling anxiety building up in the pit of her stomach you hadn’t been well all day yesterday and it looked as though they could end up having a repeat of the same thing today “maybe we should check on her?” She asks feeling unsure Vaggie nods. 

They make their way to your room fully expecting you to still be asleep in bed, if you were then they wouldn’t bother you, at least not for a little while longer. Vaggie knocks on the door lightly after receiving no reply, as she had expected, she opens the door a crack just to peek inside before gasping and flinging the door open as if it had burned her. 

You weren’t in your bed, which was just a mess of cushions and blankets, the bucket next to your bed hadn't moved an inch and it was still empty there were clothes strewn everywhere but you were nowhere to be seen, you weren’t in your bathroom and the closet was too small for you to hide in, not that they had expected you to be. Vaggie and Charlie immediately start panicking. Basically, turning your room upside down but not finding a trace of you, they race back to the lobby. 

The others watch with wide eyes as Vaggie and Charlie scramble to the top of the lobby stairs looking panicked and sketchy they’re out of breath, panting loudly but they waste no time trying to catch their breath “She gone!” Charlie bursts through gasps Angel stands from the barstool he was sat on “what?” He says raising a single eyebrow. 

Your name bursts through their lips in unison “We went to her room to check on her but she wasn’t there, she’s just gone!” Vaggie yells in a blind panic tearing her hair out, Angel’s eyebrows finally come together to form a frown. Everyone starts looking worried, if you were in the same state you were in yesterday you could be hurt or worse passed out somewhere. Husk comes out from behind the bar, worry and panic were making his fur stand on edge if you weren’t in your room then where the hell else could you be!? 

Worried chatter starts to fill the air before the kitchen doors open and steam flows through the lobby the smell of delicious food makes everyone stop in their tracks to look in the direction it originated from, you were stood there, hands on your hips and a huge grin spread across your face. You looked perfectly healthy, your green skin no longer looked chalky, your hair was neat and tidy and your eyes though still looking a little tired were bright and vibrant. 

You look around at everyone “Good morning~” you sing in a chipper tone; their jaws drop you look around questioningly “what?” You add after a short pause “what? What!?-” Vaggie yells from her place on the stairs before running up to you and crushing you in a hug that could very well have ended your life... _death_... _life?_ “What are you doing out of bed!?” She adds. “Vaggie, can’t... breath-” You gasp, she lets you go running her worried gaze over you, checking you over for wounds or anything of the sort. 

You take a deep breath and laugh “relax I feel fine, I swear” Your smile wouldn’t leave you couldn’t help it you were too excited you start practically jumping up and down “actually I made you guys breakfast, it’s ready if you guys are hungry?” You say rather bashfully, Angel nearly takes you off your feet rushing into the kitchen. 

He’s followed by Niffty who looked intrigued that you had cooked and yet glad that you were better, Charlie links her arm with Vaggie and excitedly pulls her into the kitchen, Alastor passes you with a huge grin on his face, he looked far happier than usual but not before looks down at you and says “I’m glad you’re feeling better today, little fox.” 

Husk was the only one left in the room with you he was staring at you in wonder “aren’t you hungry?” You ask dejectedly, you had made extra for him considering he had abandoned his comfort zone yesterday to console you. He doesn’t reply instead he walks up to you rather slowly you could feel his gaze inspecting you as if checking you over to make sure that you weren’t hiding anything and making sure that you were indeed well. 

When he comes to a stop, he is extremely close to you, you can feel his breath fanning over your face. He was a bit taller than you were after all the quiet was pressing down on you and it made you want to talk just to break it but you don’t need to Husk finally opens his mouth “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asks quietly completely ignoring your question, he remembered the last time he was this worried about someone and it scared him to think that way about someone as kind as you. 

You nod “yeah, I’m okay, are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something” you reply he shakes his head with a frown, his orange eyes wander your face slowly “it’s not something I wanna get into right now...the walls have fuckin’ ears around here” his eyes dart to the kitchen doors behind you flashing briefly with anger before looking back down at you and turning soft once more. 

He was starting to look uncomfortable, or rather embarrassed he was scratching the back of his neck and he was looking extra grumpy, he kept opening his mouth like he wanted to ask you something but instead, he just kept growling in frustration as if he couldn’t find the right words “what is it, Husk?” You ask quietly, he huffs and mumbles something that you can’t make out “a little louder if you don’t mind, I didn’t quite catch that” you reply straining an ear toward him. 

He huffs again “I said do you mind...so fuckin stupid...do you mind if I do another cat thing, it’s getting a little difficult to not do...you know never mind forget it-” you smile gently and grab one of his clawed hands “Husk, it’s fine, go ahead what was it?” You ask feeling slightly curious you can tell he’s blushing hard but his fur is doing a damn good job in hiding it, he must be real thankful for that. He leans down toward your face and as quickly as he could, licked your cheek gently. 

You could confirm that his tongue was definitely like that of a cat, rough and sandpapery, your cheek didn’t feel wet at all, and couldn’t help the blush that spread across your cheeks. It was very sweet of him to have been so worried about you that he had started replying on his instincts a bit more. He clears his throat and grips your hand properly “after you” he says quietly rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding your gaze. 

When you both walk into the kitchen everyone else is already sat at the table waiting for the breakfast you had made, their eyes dart to the both of you before trailing down to your interlocked hands Charlie lets out a loud squeal but it’s quickly cut off by Vaggie gently placing a hand over her mouth and sending you a sympathetic smile. You and Husk look at each other before letting go of each other's hands, he takes a seat at the table the seat across from him is the only one available. 

You close the kitchen doors and start plating up the food. You had made mushroom omelettes' and bacon you serve them before sitting down to eat with them, there’s no hesitation from anyone at the table like there usually is. Although, Husk does pause to send you a soft look, something that doesn't go unnoticed by two other demons at the table Charlie’s barely containing her excitement and Alastor’s very quickly hating this turn of events. 

Everybody tucks in with gusto and a chorus of delighted sounds consume the room you blush brightly; you hadn’t expected such an overwhelmingly positive response. You were no sous chef but you knew how to take care of yourself. No one would find you eating canned food anytime soon. Angel looks up at you with an amazed expression “do you wanna’ cook for a livin’, toots, ‘cause we’d be okay with that.” 

You laugh before replying “that’s a generous offer but I’d hate to steal Alastor’s job” you smirk up at Angel as you watch him practically swallow his fear and disappointment. Vaggie laughs “this is really good though; did you cook often when you were alive?” She asks briefly looking up at you before continuing to eat. 

You nod and affirmative “Had to cook for my brother and me, my brother was so lazy it was the only way I could be sure he was eating” you reply fondly, Charlie’s already cleared her plate and she’s absolutely beaming for two very different reasons. You had a feeling you’d be having some private chat with her and Vaggie about this later “well that was absolutely delicious!” She exclaims you blush again looking down sheepishly. 

Niffty nods with her cheeks stuffed with food surprisingly Husk was the next to finish his food he’d practically wolfed it down in one go “yeah that was pretty good” he says looking up at you he gives you this slight smile you had a feeling it would be bigger were it not for a certain presence in the room. You smile widely genuinely happy they had enjoyed it so much “good because this was a thank you, for everything you _all_ did for me yesterday” you start, looking around the table surprise crossed everyone's features. 

You look down “I don’t get sick very often, when I was alive if I got sick there was no one to take care of me, my two older brothers were busy, my dad was always working, my mom...well she passed when I was young, Michael had to go to school, I had David but he couldn’t always look after me, he had school too, so I had to look after myself-” you stop to take a breath looking back up at the table you offer them a closed-eyed smile. 

“-I don’t think I would have been able to do that, by myself, yesterday, so I just wanted to say thank you, thank you for taking care of me.” You finish opening your eyes, still smiling, shocked silence greeted you before soft expressions took its place. They all nod in understanding before finishing their food. Angel’s head whips toward you though, he recognized a name that you hadn’t mentioned before “Who’s David, toots?” He asks hoping this isn’t a sensitive topic. 

You blush a little, swallowing thickly “Uh...he was my boyfriend for a few years when I was alive, of course, we were dating when we were in school” you reply Angel nods leaning back into his seat crossing both sets of arms “you had a boyfriend! What was he like?” Niffty exclaims you burst out into laughter “he was nice, I bet some of you would have liked him, Angel would have definitely” you tease but he just sends you this flirty wink making you giggle “he was great, but we broke up after four years.” 

You finish on that note, your relationship hadn’t ended sourly you were both still friends afterwards, though his mother had tried to get you both to reconsider. But it had been your father who wasn’t happy, he had been the reason you had to let him go. But Dave had understood, sure he was angry at first but he’d even told you himself that he knew it wasn’t your fault despite you not telling him the real reason. He’d always been able to see right through you. 

You feel a light tap on your shin under the table you look and Husk is giving you this tender stare, you smile at him reassuringly. You were gonna have to talk to him in private at some point because you two were starting to get strangely close all of a sudden. 

Once everyone’s finished you all sit and chat for a bit it’s nice there’s no arguing just mindless chatter though Alastor is strangely quiet. Then you remember “Oh, I just remembered I need to go shopping to get food, we’re running low,” you say looking at Charlie, she nods tapping her chin in thought “okay but take someone with you” she replies “You may look and feel better but just to be on the safe side...” she looks around the table but you don’t fail to notice that her eyes glance between Husk and you for a few minutes. 

You nod, suddenly realizing that the last time you were outside of the hotel was the day you had landed in hell. You follow Charlie’s gaze Husk looks as though he were about to very politely drift off into a coma without alcohol to keep him sane. You’d had a nice time with him yesterday and you really did need to talk to him and maybe he’d like to get out of the hotel for a bit. 

“Husk?” You call he looks up at you raising an eyebrow “yeah” you smile and bat your eyelashes at him you can see him shifting around in his seat, he’s embarrassed you could tell, you had done the same thing yesterday it’s how you made him spend time with you, “do you want to come to the shop with me?” You ask as sweetly as you can “uh...I dunno, don’t you wanna take someone else...” “I’ll buy you whatever kind of booze you want” You reply, hopeful, he stares at you with squinted eyes. 

You sigh and pull out the black and gold, apple dappled credit card Charlie had given you. Husk huffs before giving in, you squeal in happiness. Alastor rises from his seat and starts taking the plates away. You follow suit taking your own, Niffty’s and Charlie’s and carry them over to the sink. 

You grab a towel but it’s snatched quickly from your hands you look up to see Alastor holding the towel he shakes a finger at you “ah, ah, ah, my dear, you cooked our wonderful breakfast, go sit down, little fox” you felt bad thinking that he was going to do this alone but there was, apparently, no need. 

“Husker, my good friend congratulations you’ve been temporarily promoted to dryer!” Alastor announces dropping the towel into Husk's lap he’s about to make a huge fuss but stops looking up at you his eyebrows pull upward slightly. You stare back you haven’t said anything to make him stop. Yet, he sighs and begrudgingly gets up from his seat and starts to dry the dishes Alastor cleaned. 

You hesitantly sit back down at the table and chat with the others. When the dishes were put away Husk turns to you “I’ll wait in the lobby until you’re ready to go okay?” You nod in reply and watch him go Niffty pats your hand catching your attention “I’ll be painting one of the rooms today if you need me, but you’re taking the day off, do whatever you like today, okay?” She says, practically commanding it. 

You laugh “okay, but if you need any help then ask, I don’t mind giving you a hand” Niffty shakes her head “I’ll manage, have fun!” She yells leaving the room. Angel leans over your shoulder and whispers into your ear “ya’ sure ya don’t wanna’ be our designated cook?” You laugh and turn to him “how about a compromise?” You say ambiguously. 

He tilts his head looking confused you turn to face the rest of them “if Alastor’s okay with it? What do you think about him and I alternating days to cook meals for everyone?” You say Vaggie, Charlie and Angel nod immediately you look up at Alastor “if that is what you would like, my dear, I see no problem with it” He says bending at the waist he gives the tip of your nose a slight tap, just like he had done once before. 

You nod and smile you could swear you’d heard Alastor’s breath catch for a moment but that couldn’t be right. “Okay well, I’m gonna’ get the food shopping, and I’ll be cooking today, so Alastor you can just kick back and relax,” you say before turning to leave the room, leaving the rest of them dumbfounded. 

You find Husk stood behind the bar, looking for alcohol that he apparently didn’t have you giggle at him rummaging around he gets up too quickly smacking his head harshly off the bar top looking at you with wide yes “Hey I’m ready” you say, he nods coming out from behind the bar you head toward the hotel doors the minute you open them a bracing chill rushes through the lobby wrapping around your small body. 

You close the door just as quickly as you had opened it “ _holy shit_ that’s cold!” You exclaim rubbing your arms, you barely think about getting a jacket before a thick material is placed around your shoulders you turn to see Alastor stood directly behind you, you jump placing your hand over your heart and clenching your teeth. 

“It seems chilly outside today, my dear, wouldn’t want you to catch a nasty cold after just getting better now, would we?” He asks his static was much lighter than usual which was a nice change he had placed a crimson red coat lined with the same coloured faux fur around your shoulders. It was pretty you were pleasantly surprised you look back up at him “thank you.” 

He smiles, reaching out to twirl a strand of your hair around his finger before letting it go “such good manners you have, little fox” He turns to Husk “do be careful out there, my good friend, and do bring her back in one piece won't you” he asserted before walking away. 

Husk turns to you looking put out and extra grumpy “did he make you uncomfortable again, kid?” He asks you shake your head “no, we should go or we’ll never leave” you reply but he had made you feel very confused, that was the first time he was nice to you without being irritating something warm grabs your hand you look down to see Husk entangling his fingers with yours. You blush and you’re sure he does too. 

You both head out into the chilly air. You let Husker pull you along his hand is warm. You're none the wiser to where the shops are so you feel that it’s best to let him lead the way. You could feel him getting tense next to you, you’re not sure why until he speaks “Alright, what is it? I can tell you want to talk to me about something or you wouldn’t have bribed me to come with you with alcohol” he heaves out slowing his pace so that you could catch up. 

You sigh, linking your arm with his so that you don’t have to lag behind him, he had been keeping a relentless pace up until now. “Yeah...” you reply slowly not knowing how to start, or really what to even say, Husk raises a single eyebrow “what is it?” He asks again there’s this pit of nervousness opening up in your stomach. You blow a raspberry “are you okay?” You start trying to lead up to what you want to say. 

He gives you this incredulous look “why?” He retorts back you shake your head laughing, he’s so defensive sometimes, you wonder if you’ll ever be able to break through those walls of his. But on the other hand, you get it, you’ve got some pretty high walls in place too, you just hope no one’s adventurous enough to try and break them down. “You seem pretty...protective? Of me lately, or should I say since yesterday?” 

He turns to stare straight ahead of him, at some far-off point down the street, hanging his head for a few minutes he huffs “look I lost the ability to love years ago, that’s what I tell everyone, it deters people from trying. Actually, it’s just a load of crap, I do care, I just tend to care far too much” you listen politely was he about to tell you something about a past lover? A wife? A fiancé? A girlfriend? “I was in the military; I made a lot of close friends some of them were like brothers to me, I got attached...” 

Your heart is already breaking and you’re not entirely sure you want to hear any more you swallow thickly, a lump forming in your throat and tears prickling the corners of your eyes painfully. He glances at your face and instantly regrets it, you look heartbroken “don’t, don’t get all sad, I’m fine really, stop crying, I didn’t want to make you cry, I’m just trying to explain” you sniffle but nod he waits until he knows you're okay before continuing. 

“So long ass story short, when I got back home from war and everything, I was a complete mess, I didn’t know what to do with myself, I drunk constantly. I promised myself that, if the opportunity arose that I was able to protect someone, someone that really deserved it then I would try no matter what” he finishes now you really do want to cry because you knew deep down you didn’t deserve such kindness. 

“What if I don’t deserve it?” You reply in a rush you stop in the middle of the street pulling on his arms forcing him to stop and face you he gives you a confused look “well, I’m in hell for a reason, right?” You elude he snorts “so am I, your point?” He gives you this gentle look and reaches up with one hand to cup your cheek “I don’t care what you did to get down here because quite frankly, and don’t take this the wrong way, I don’t see you being your average murderer or serial killer, in fact, I bet you’re the closet we’d get to having a saint down here in hell” to say you were flattered was an understatement. 

That was far more of a compliment than you think he’d intended it to be. “Husk, that’s really sweet and all but you have no idea what I’ve done, what I’m like, you only see what I show you” you reply as flattered as you were you didn’t want him to call you some kind of saint when you clearly weren’t one. He tuts, glancing away before glancing back with a thoughtful look on his face “then open up a bit more” he suggests. 

You shake your head “No that’s not fair I barely know anything about you” he removes his clawed hand from your face grabbing your hand and linking your arm with his again, as he starts to walk you follow suit. “Okay how about this, you and I will spend more time together, you’ll tell me more about you and I’ll you more about me” he offers you mull it over for a bit before nodding “okay, sure” he nods once and you both continue the rest of your walk-in silence. 

When you finally reached the shop, it was like a big supermarket in the middle of tonnes of other tiny shops, it looked very out of place. You entered the shop picked up a basket and started wandering the isle’s if you were cooking all the meals today it meant you had lunch and dinner left, you decided that you’d do finger foods for lunch. 

Things like sandwiches, cocktail sausages, sausage rolls, stuff like that. And for dinner, you decided you’d make your favourite steak and chips you stare up at Husk who had been silent for most of the way through the shop “want any snacks, Husk?” You ask picking up biscuits and sweets, basically all sorts of treats for the others. 

He shrugs and you smirk he’s eyeing the alcohol you sigh “go on then go pick your drink out” you’d never seen the guy move so fast you giggle wandering over he picks up a bottle of blue liquid he looks over his shoulder at you “You’ll have to try this; you’ll probably like it better than any of the stuff we have at the hotel” you look down at the bottle it didn’t look bad and you trusted his judgement you start dragging him over to the cashier to pay for everything. Before you knew it, you were on your way home Husk offered to help you with the bags which you had politely accepted. 

You both pass by a few sketchy ally ways and at this point Husk is looking on edge and keeps glancing behind you both, you’re about to turn around to see what he’s looking at but he stops you shifting the bags he was holding into one had and warping and arm around your shoulders forcing you to continue walking. “Don’t look just keep walking,” he says quietly “what is it? What’s wrong?” You ask, your nerves were skyrocketing. 

“Just keep walkin’, I don’t fancy being robbed” you heart drops into your stomach at the realization that you were both being followed back to the hotel because of all the things you had in the bags. There were a lot of demons on the streets most of which probably survived by robbing other demons, the worst part was that this is hell, it’s not illegal. 

If you get robbed that’s it, end of story, you tried to keep calm, it wouldn’t help if you started panicking, this was reminding you of something that happened when you were alive but the memory was a little fuzzy. The demons behind you, however, had no intentions of just letting the two of you go. 

They grabbed your arms and pretty much ripped Husk off of you, he wasted no time in fighting back using brute strength alone because the further he was from you the less likely he would be able to protect you, you were cornered by three demons. They looked a lot less human than the demons you were currently living with. 

And that’s saying something because you lived with a cat with wings, a cyclops demon with one fucking eye and a feminine arachnid. You put your bags down, you had taken self-defence classes at the demand of your father and remembered a great deal of it. You eyed them waiting “come on foxy, you can’t expect us to fight you, right?” one of them taunted with a laugh. 

You smirk “no, I don’t expect you to, but you're not leaving here with any of the possessions I have so, looks like we don’t have much of a choice huh” you fired back you felt confident, you had eaten, you had tones of energy something these demons seemed to lack. They laughed before lunging at you. _Let the dance begin!_

A few minutes later you’ve floored them all the rest that had tried to tackle Husk had fled he gives you this incredulous look as you pick up your bags, you hadn’t been all that lucky though you could feel blood trickling from your lip and you were damned sure you had a black eye. Nevertheless, you grinned at him “haven’t had to pull those moves out in a while!” You exclaim. 

He huffs before giving you a rare grin “wow, I nearly underestimated you there” he pauses checking you over for any breakages when he doesn’t find any he steps back “so...Foxy eh?” You laugh “oh no, not you too!” You exclaim blushing brightly his laugh booms around you “I think I’ve found the perfect nickname for you” you both laugh before making your way back to the hotel again. Upon entering the hotel, you exclaim “Hah! It’s good to be home!” You’re out of breath. Vaggie and Charlie look up from their position on the sofa and gasp loudly at your rugged appearance. 

One of your space buns had been roughed up, your clothes, including that nice coat Alastor had given you, had been torn; Husk looked better than you did but you were still grinning “what happened to you?” Charlie questioned just as Niffty and Alastor were walking down the stairs. Niffty’s gasp was ten times louder than theirs. 

“Some demons tried to mug us” Husk explained you nod “they were a lot tougher than they looked as scrawny as they were” you added the static in the air was very _harsh_. “Husker, _my good friend_...how did those awful demons get their hands on her in the first place?” Alastor asked and there was no doubt it was threatening Husk sighed “calm down she held her own, kicked most of their asses into next year, you guys should've seen it.” 

Husk gave you an admiring look before taking his bags into the kitchen “why don’t we go into the kitchen and get you cleaned up” Vaggie says gently grabbing your arms and tugging you to toward the kitchen with her. “You’re awfully calm for someone who just got mugged,” Vaggie noticed pulling out a first aid kit, that was just all the wrong colours. The cross was red and the box itself was black. 

“Meh, it’s hell, I figure this kind of thing is gonna be normal, unless you’re just extremely lucky, ya know?” You shrug, you fail to mention that you’ve been mugged before when you were alive, or at least you think that’s what happened. She shakes her head “it’s a good job you already know how to fight” she mumbles cleaning your busted lip. 

You hum in reply trying to keep still when she’s finished, she looks at your black eye and screws her face up a bit “nothing I can do about that I’m afraid, we have painkillers though just in case you need them” you nod and start helping Husk put the shopping away he looks you over admiring the clean-up Vaggie had done “You okay?” He asks you bump his arm with your shoulder lightly “yeah” you reply quietly. “Maybe you should let Alastor take over for the rest of today?” Charlie says chewing her nails you’d been through so much the past few days she almost felt as though you attract danger. 

You shake your head “no don’t be silly, I’m not made of glass, I’m not gonna break” you argue your face is grabbed and tilted up Alastor has your cheeks smushed together making your lips pout “Do you remember who did this to you, little fox?” He asked calmly, it was almost scary, you nod with confused eyes “tell me” he demands you try to talk but you can’t. 

A familiar hand grips Alastor’s wrist he lets go of you out of shock “She doesn’t have to tell you shit, you don’t get the right to demand anything of anyone, especially her!” Husk shouts, he’s already squaring up looking ready to beat Alastor into next year. The air is tense and even Alastor is looking mildly surprised “Husk it’s okay, we all want her to be safe, I’m sure Alastor is just curious as to what happened right, Al?” Charlie coaxed trying to diffuse the situation. 

Alastor grins “of course, my dear” he replies Husk practically growls “hey Husk why don’t you go put this behind the bar-” you suggest handing him the drink you’d bought him he sighs but after giving another searching look nods gently taking the bottle from your grasp he leaves the kitchen but not before shoulder shoving Alastor on the way out, well, as well as he could being shorter and all. 

Alastor brushes himself down fixing himself after the brief roughhousing, you start recalling the event in great detail. When you’re finished Vaggie and Charlie look shocked and Angel, who you hadn’t noticed was stood in the kitchen doorway, started applauding you “Nice one, toots, didn’t know you had the guts, way to go short stuff!” He yelled, he then proceeded to laugh saying things like he wished he could have seen their faces. 

Alastor could have been pissed, worried or completely uncaring and you wouldn’t be able to tell because that creepy-ass smile, never left its permanent place on his face. It annoyed you a little, you kind of wished you hadn’t sent Husk away now. Alastor nods “Well, my dear that sounds positively awful, I shall leave you to relax” with that he leaves the kitchen quite in a hurry. 

You shake your head looking from Vaggie to Charlie to Angel they looked just as confused as you did. You pinch the bridge of your nose before shaking your head again choosing to just let it go from you clap your hands together loudly “I’ll make lunch in about an hour and a half, does that sound good?” Everyone nods and they start to filter out of the kitchen. 

Everyone except Charlie who was staring at you, you smile because you know what’s coming “so you and Husk, eh?” She questions flexing her eyebrows suggestively you snort “I dunno what you’re talking about~” you reply in a sing-song voice, you start folding the tee towels next to you to distract yourself she giggles rounding the kitchen isle and standing opposite you. “Oh, but I think you do, pretty sure I spotted you two holding hands earlier and you seem to be getting quite close, should we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?” She suggests raising an eyebrow with a smirk. 

Your eyes could have popped out of your skull there and then “No!” You yell you throw a worried glance at the kitchen doors before looking back at Charlie “no, uhm, Husk’s great and super sweet and we did say we were going to spend some more time together, but I’m not sure about that, honestly I’m not even sure that’s where this will go, he’s just protective of me, probably sees me as a sister or something like that” you explain. 

Charlie gives you a wide-eyed shocked look as if to say that you were really stupid “come on, no way he does not think of you like that!” She insists, your shoulders sag and you give her a half-smile “what makes you so sure?” You challenge putting the towels into their draw and then leaning over the counter to amuse her “because I’ve seen the way he’s been looking at you since yesterday” she replies knowingly before adding “and I look at Vaggie the exact same way.” 

She ends on that note leaving you to a bombardment of thoughts, you hadn’t noticed him looking at you any different. You leave the kitchen feeling self-conscious. 

_Was he really looking at you differently now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so here's the early upload, I hope you guys enjoy it! Let know if you spot any mistakes all comments are greatly appreciated and as always thanks for reading. I'll see you all next Wednesday for the next chapter!


	8. Alone time is a thing of the past!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's apparently Angel's turn to spend time with you, you're starting to feel like maybe you're getting closer to him which is nice, you just wish you didn't have to bond over such an uncomfortable topic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Edited!📢 This Chapter has been edited and therefore may seem different and longer! Thank you for bearing with me!

Angel was slumped on the sofa in the lobby watching the TV his four arms crossed over his body looking as though he were giving himself a big hug his legs were so long that they bent at the knee over the opposite arm of the sofa from his head he was completely unaware of your entrance but someone else wasn’t. 

Husk was stood behind the bar waving you over with a clawed hand you wander over to the other side of the bar and sit on one of the padded stools he offers you a drink “hey why don’t we crack open the good stuff?” He suggests raising a long red eyebrow at you. You shrug your shoulders and lean your head against your hand on the bar “yeah, sure...if you want” you mumble. 

Truth be told, you’ve been feeling nervous the minute you entered the lobby, thanks to Charlie you were a ball of anxiety, you just can’t help it, you can’t picture Husk seeing you as anything but a kid, or maybe you’d even go so far as a little sister type but as anything else you think that’s just impossible. You set your thoughts straight shaking your head you’re determined to think that Charlie’s wrong. 

Maybe she just has wishful thinking, yeah that’s it, right? She’s with Vaggie and maybe she just wants another couple in the hotel to go on double dates with and stuff. Yeah, that sounds like the cutesy stuff she’d be into! “Hey!” Husk yells you jump, nearly hitting the high roof above you. “Huh?” You reply distractedly he grins “what’re you thinking so hard about, dotty?” You frown ‘dotty’ what the fuck is ‘dotty’? 

“What does dotty mean?” You ask genuinely Husk grins “it means you’re small, you’re dotty” he shrugs as if not knowing how to explain it “you never answered my question, dotty,” he says continuing with the nickname at least it was meant is a nice way, everyone seemed to be giving you your own pet name. “Uh...I wasn’t thinking about anything important just something Charlie said” you reply answering his question. 

He slumps over the bar and hands you, your drink “do you want to talk about it?” He offers you shake your head “it’s not a bad thing, it was just thought-provoking that’s all, I’m fine” you insist you take a sip of the bright blue liquid and smile, it tastes like summer, you know how crazy that sounds a drink can’t taste like a season, but that’s just what it reminded you of. “That’s really nice, it reminds me of really warm days, and fruity drinks and little umbrellas” you whisper fondly. 

Husk nods “yeah I had a feeling you’d like it” he utters downing his drink in one go his gaze flashes over to Angel after said arachnid, bursts out laughing extremely loudly apparently whatever he was watching on the TV was amusing him to some extent. Husk looked completely sick of his life, he glances at you and rolls his eyes you chuckle quietly. 

Everyone else was nowhere to be seen you shrug you had an hour and a half to chill out so you get up from your seat at the bar and wander up to where Angel was sat and plop onto the floor by the sofa. You watched some knock off of Judge Judy it was already partway through so you obviously had no idea what was going on but just based on the five minutes you’d seen; you could tell the Judge was being harsh. 

A good ten minutes into the program hands were grabbing your hair, untying your space buns and combing your hair out before doing what felt like random braids here and there. You smirk but you don’t protest, it was actually quite relaxing “Hold this hair tie for a sec, toots!” Angel demands you take one of the hair tie’s off of him holding it until he asks for it back making grabby hands instead of actually verbally asking. 

You continue to watch the program, you felt like you had been here forever now, but in reality, it had only been four days, _four long-ass days!_ You were honestly wondering what your family had done after you died, did you have a funeral? Did they simply leave you in the toxic waste? You wonder what your mother would be thinking right now if she had been alive to see this. 

Michael was a different story; you hope he hadn’t found out...well what really happened anyway. You did hope, however, that Michael had stepped up and started looking after himself because you couldn’t trust anyone else to do it, he needs to learn to take proper care of himself it was one of the reasons you worried about him so much. You wonder how Dave was, secretly a part of you still loved him, and you knew it always would, but that’s not the point. You hoped he hadn’t found out, him or his family for that matter. 

Angel had gotten bored and started playing with your hair, he started styling your hair braiding it, combing it out with his fingers and then starting again, once he had decided to just stop messing about with it he combed it out and now it was in a beautiful braid he tied the end and then tuned back into the TV completely unaware of your existential crisis. 

You eventually tune back into the room when you hear Charlie and Alastor chatting while making their way down the stairs they’re talking about redecorating some of the rooms so they look a bit less gloomy. Your head turns in their direction. 

Angel had gotten up from the sofa at this point catching your eye he walks to the bar and before he can even _breathe_ Husk immediately tells him to ‘fuck off’ “awh come on, Huskie, ya’ know ya’ want a lil’ bit of this” Angel replies his second set of hands are placed on his hips, and with his first set, his right arm is leant on the bar and the left is dramatically gesturing to all of him. 

After which he uses the first set of arms to fluff up his chest and smooth his hair over sending Husk a flirty wink. You snicker, Husk kinda’ sends you this look like he’s asking for help you grimace at him holding out both of your arms in a V shape either side of you, you shrug at him. 

He squints at you as if you had betrayed him and instead immediately starts drinking, chugging the new, surprisingly expensive bottle of alcohol like it’s the answer to all of his problems “hey don’t drink all of that to yourself!” You yell Husk sends you a smirk and retaliates “make me!” You snicker and race over to the bar practically leaping over it in his surprise you’re able to snatch the bottle from his grasp. You laugh under your breath raising the bottle to your lips you start chugging like your afterlife depends on it the ‘666’ news starts airing capturing your full attention Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench start blabbing on about unimportant shit. 

You’re about to get up and leave until a particular story catches not only your attention but Angel’s and Charlie’s as well. “Last night, there was an _explosive incident_ at the club ‘Devils Little Dancers’” Katie says in her usual fake voice it honestly made you sneer just thinking about it “that’s right self-proclaimed, spunky powerhouse, Cherri Bomb, blew up the club along with the owners and over 67 denizens inside!” Tom added. 

You raise your eyebrows slightly “yes it seems this particular cyclone has gotten a little too hot to handle! Will her explosive personality never cease?” Katie exclaims feigning interest Tom shrugs next to her “I don’t know Katie, but I'd sure like to get in on the action!” Angel starts laughing. 

You glance over at him “Sugar tits, probably got her panties in a twist again because they cut her off, good for her that place deserved to burn and the owners with it” you shake your head with a sigh “Angel!” Charlie berates looking disappointed “oh come on the guys that owned that club were a bunch of poorly packaged horse shit and you know it!” 

Laughter escapes you faster than you can contain it, you slap a hand over your mouth to try and silence the sound, that was the best insult of all time, you just had to commit that one to memory. Angel gives you a wink with a fucking smug as shit smile. Charlie’s shoulders sag in defeat. Instead, she shakes her head and runs up to you. 

Giving you a quick hug, she then stands back with a cute little smile “how’s your face feeling?” You give her a confused look for a minute before your throbbing lip and slightly swollen eye reminds you that you had been mugged today “meh, it’s okay I’ll liv-...survive” you’re quick to correct your mistake she gives you an understanding smile. 

You send a quick glance to the time on the TV and ultimately decide to start preparing lunch you excuse yourself and Charlie nods going to sit with Husk and Angel at the bar. You enter the kitchen getting out all the food you’d planned to prepare. All you really had to do was warm the sausage rolls and make the sandwiches, you made different types like ham, chicken, tuna, etc. You start putting them on dishes in the middle of the table leaving spare clean plates for the others to use. 

You were about to turn around to fill everyone's drinks before calling them in, a sharp gasp leaves your lips as you bump into someone's chest a quiet grunt escapes them as you take an abrupt step back. You see Alastor grinning down at you “Hello, my little darling fox, I thought you might need some help” his arms move so dramatically when he speaks. 

“Oh, uh, actually Alastor, as kind as that offer is, I’ve pretty much finished now,” you say gesturing to the table, yes the gesture was nice but you’re not super comfortable being around considering his actions recently, Alastor nods “such a gracious host you are, little fox” He replies looking down at your handy work before turning back to you “well would you be needing a hand with dinner instead, my dear?” He asks persistently you get the feeling that he’s a little put-out, or even bored. 

From your personal experience him being bored is far from good, you press your lips into a thin line your eyes darting from him to the kitchen doors and back you can’t just let him annoy the others maybe if you let him help with dinner he’ll be a bit more agreeable, and play nice for a while preferably for good but baby steps. 

Not to mention you felt kind of bad, you’d pretty much stolen one of the things that did genuinely seemed to bring him great enjoyment you smile “you know, Alastor, that would be nice because I’m cooking steak and knowing the rest of them, they’re gonna want them cooked differently” Alastor gives you a prompt nod. 

“Yes, for example, my dear, I prefer mine quite...bloody,” He says with a strange grin it wasn’t like his usual smile; you had a feeling he was reminiscing a bit. You also had this strange feeling that you didn’t want to know what it could possibly be about; you got this overwhelming feeling that you needed to run and never look back. 

You resisted the feeling as much as you could suppressing a shiver you nod slightly “I prefer mine medium-rare, well done is just too chewy kinda tastes like charcoal” you reply offhandedly desperately wanting the subject to change you walk around him and start filling up each glass apart from Alastor’s and Husks, knowing Husk he’ll bring his own drink. 

“What would you like to drink, Al?” You ask casually turning back to him his eyes widen slightly you hadn’t given him a nickname before sure it was the same as the one Charlie gave him but still, he lets out a hum before snapping his fingers you turn to see his cup filled with something that looked like red wine but didn’t smell remotely of alcohol. It did smell extremely bitter though. 

You would have asked what it was, but does it look like your first day here? Hell no, so you simply shrug your shoulders easing the tense knots that threatened to stay planted there you stroll over to the kitchen doors and let Angel, Husk and Charlie know that lunch is ready. Charlie volunteers herself to go and retrieve Vaggie and Niffty. 

Angel and Husk settle themselves into their seats and as per usual Angel starts flirting as if his life... _death?_ Depends on it. Husk rolls his eyes and turns to you pointing a clawed finger to the food on the table “look’s good, dotty” he teases you glare at him playfully “stop calling me that!” You whine he snorts his shoulders were shaking and you just knew he was laughing quietly “Nah it’s too funny”. 

“Husk!” You begged but he simply shakes his head you take the seat next to him and Alastor joins you, you’re sandwiched in-between Husk and Alastor, the conversation becomes strained like you’re all fighting to find a topic to stick to. It’s a relief when Charlie and the others finally enter the kitchen and take their seats. 

Charlie and Vaggie send you a smile each though, Vaggie’s smile is strained as she sees the company you’re sat with, you’re unable to explain that you didn’t have a choice, there’s a short pause at the table. “Well, what are you all waiting for, lets’ dig in!” You say no sooner had the words left your mouth did Angel and Husk start grabbing fistfuls of food and start stuffing their faces. 

Vaggie lets out a snort before grabbing two chicken sandwiches and a few sausage rolls. Charlie picked up ham sandwiches and started asking you what all the other foods were, it seemed she’d never eaten finger-foods before. As you explained, you picked up things that you liked occasionally pointing to something that you would label Charlie would hum and nod in response every time you explained something. 

You see Angel’s eyes light up mischievously and you almost outright told him ‘no’ to whatever he was thinking he looks straight up at you with this gleam in his eyes. “Hey, toots, wanna’ hear a joke?” He asks your taken aback but he had made you laugh before so you slowly start nodding you seriously wondered where this was going, he clears his throat before gesturing to the whole table “so we’re all agreed that cannibalism is wrong right?” 

You nearly spat your food out “well yeah!” Vaggie shouted Charlie and Niffty choked on their food and Husk was muttering under his breath, Alastor strangely didn’t react which made you question his sanity if you hadn’t been before you’re sure he’s crazy now. “Angel where’s this going?” You ask in reply all you get is a single finger signalling for you to wait it’s silent for a minute “but how many of you have eaten boneless children” he finished with a huge smirk Vaggie’s eyes were wide. 

She gives you this glance and you could tell by that look alone that she understood the joke and so did you, you were definitely no saint, and no novice either after all you had a boyfriend when you were alive so you’re laugh had come out immediately. Oh yeah, Angel and Mike would have been a 'love at first joke' kind of couple. 

Charlie and Niffty looked confused as did Alastor, Husk had already face palmed but you had started laughing immediately “Angel no!!” You screamed clutching your stomach you really shouldn’t have found it so funny but you did, Mike had told jokes like that at the dinner table and it had elicited similar reactions. Though it did infuriate your dad more than it should have, they were just jokes after all. 

Angel looked damn pleased with himself “I don’t get it?” Charlie said you choked on your laughter looking at her with wide eyes Alastor hummed “yes I must say I agree, I have no idea what you’re talking about Angel” he said with his usual static crackle. Angel shrugged “oh well let me explain-” oh hell no... 

No sooner had those few words left his lips had you leapt from your seat and smacked a hand over his mouth “Angel don’t you dare” you warn you could feel his breath against your palm as he huffed trying to talk his voice came out muffled you sigh rolling your eyes “I don’t understand a word you're trying to say so just nod your head to promise you will not explain that joke” you wait for his response. 

He rolls his eyes and nods you remove your hand but not before he had the chance to lick it “eww! Angel!” You shout wiping your hand on a napkin “what? You covered my mouth deal with the consequences, bitch” you smirk at him oh yeah he and Mike would get on like a house on fire. “Besides you must be doin’ some naughty shit to understand that joke, toots,” Angel said eyeing you, your face goes from smug to tomato red in seconds. 

Angel laughs “oh we are so talking about this later!” He exclaims excitedly you give him a quick shake of your head trying to tell him without words that there would be no talk now or later but he was adamant “Angel” you warn lowering your voice the others were giving you strange looks, but Angel, Vaggie and Husk knew exactly what was going on “I’m assuming it was with a certain...Dave” your face was never redder; you were entirely sure that your skin wasn’t green anymore. 

Your face felt red hot and absolutely burning it takes a minute before true realization flashes across Vaggie’s features she gasps “holy crap, no way! Hun?” you groan rubbing a hand over your face “dear lord I have never been more impatient to be murdered by an Angel in literally ever” you can see Husk’s shoulders shaking next to you again “you and me both” he whispers. As if it were something meant for your ears only. 

“My dear, while that joke seemed to be funny between you Husk, it seems to be a rather tasteless joke to some of the others at the table” Alastor alludes looking around the table Charlie didn’t seem to appreciate the joke and neither had Vaggie apparently, but Angel was still grinning maniacally. You grimace perhaps that was the best joke to tell “sorry...” you mumble more to Charlie and Vaggie because those were two people that you most definitely didn’t want to upset. 

Charlie nods with a forgiving smile “as long as it was simply a joke with no real intention behind it then I guess it’s fine.” You nod “I guess that’s one thing that hasn’t gotten popular down here” you utter Vaggie tilts her head in confusion “what would that be?” She asks curiously you puff out air through your lips thinking of a way to explain “well, humour, when I was alive, was always really morbid, people would say stuff like that every day, it was just words to us, it never meant anything we found it funny, guess it hasn’t really taken off here yet.” 

That’s gen-z for you though always morbid and tasteless never knowing where the boundaries are, you suppose it's good that you’ve found one, your jokes could have gotten a lot more morbid than that had they not said anything. Vaggie looked un-surprised at this new information but Niffty and the others had quite the opposite reaction “you mean to tell me that people make jokes like that because they think it’s funny?” Niffty asks seemingly confused. 

You nod you weren’t sure if it would be very smart of you to answer verbally after all you already felt as though you’d said far too much, life as they knew it was far different perhaps it would be best if you kept your way of living to yourself, you didn’t want to overload them with information that they were bound to misunderstand. And you weren’t sure if you were the most capable person to explain it, you weren’t technically gen-z after all. 

“So, people offend other people on purpose for fun?” Angel asks looking astounded you nod once more with a grimace that wasn’t your favourite way of making jokes but you had a feeling Angel wouldn’t have minded, he’s quick-witted he would have had a comeback for their insults in mere seconds, of that you had absolutely no doubt in your mind. He shakes his head huffing “I was born in the wrong era!” He exclaims and you couldn’t help but agree he would have fit right in. 

Alastor, on the other hand, looked caught between happy that comedy had broken the walls of giving a shit and unhappy that it hadn’t happened sooner the food at the table had long since been devoured, and everyone was either sipping their drinks or taking in the new information it might not have seemed like a huge bombshell and for you, it wasn’t but to them, it might have been a bit much to handle. You didn’t exactly know what their mental capacity was like you feared you never would. 

After what felt like a long silence Charlie clears her throat and stretches her arms up above her head before turning to Vaggie and gesturing to the dishes. Said moth demon nods her head to the unspoken question and they stand simultaneously and start collecting everybody’s plates, everyone offers them a small ‘thanks.’ 

Husk had thanked you quietly and walked slowly out of the kitchen and you presumed back to the bar, you know, where all the alcohol was. Niffty had whizzed off to lord knows where and Alastor had excused himself to do... _whatever he does_...what does he do? You wondered. You’re left at the table with Angel staring at the kitchen doors, you can hear Charlie and Vaggie behind you talking quietly about what they were going to do after this. 

“Come on toots,” Angel said stood by your seat towering over you, it was very unfair that he was so tall you get up from your seat and follow him out to the lobby, it seemed you’d be hanging out with Angel for a while then “Hey!” Husk yells, storming over to you both from the lobby doors you frown feeling confused. He had something tucked under his arm and he looked infuriated you two hadn’t been sat in the kitchen long enough for shit to have gone down, right? 

Tucked under his left arm was a red box with a gold, silk bow tied around it and an ivory coloured card tucked under the silk. “I’m not your errand boy tell your admirers to fuck off!” He mutters shoving the box into Angel's arms before storming back to the bar Angel’s shoulder’s sag as he reads and re-reads the card on the box before mumbling “wouldn’t help.” He sounded dejected and frightened very unlike the Angel you were used to. 

Very unlike the flirty, capable arachnid you were fond of, this was another side of him, a side of him that was afraid and you weren’t sure what to say. This was something you weren’t very good at, comforting people, it was never your strong suit. You always ended up saying the wrong thing and upsetting them further no matter how much you tried. 

You eye the box with resentfulness whoever had sent him this gift was obviously a demon that terrified him “Angel?” He looks up at you and for a minute he looks annoyed... _angry._ But as his gaze focuses, he puffs his chest out standing up straight he gestures to the stairs and starts walking up them. You were no expert when it came to Angel the guy was unpredictable and you had a feeling anything could annoy him if you weren’t careful. 

But you also had this strange feeling that there was more to him then he was letting you see something that might upset him something that might make him feel vulnerable. You followed him up the stairs and walked with him in silence all the way to his room the minute he opens the door you hear snorting. 

The pig makes his way excitedly over to Angel his body is shaking and bouncing in happiness and he’s making all kinds of cute little noises. The box is forgotten about the minute Angel sees him waddling over he drops the box to the floor and crouches down to swoop the pig up into his arms giving him a huge cuddle. 

You smile at the adorable scene in front of you the pig's tail is wagging in pure delight and... for the love of Lucifer so is yours. You turn to look behind you with a glare, yep there it is, wagging, fuck sake. You hated that stupid thing you turn back to Angel; he’s made his way to sit on the edge of his bed. 

“Ya’ gonna come in, toots, or what?” You shake your head in the realization that you’re still stood in the open doorway. You walk in and close the door gently behind you Angel’s room was surprisingly tidy, for some reason that’s just not how you had pictured it. You had pictured clothes being everywhere dirty and clean. 

But they weren’t there was a lovely vanity with a mirror on the far-left side of his room up against the wall and on that same wall was a closed-door you assumed was the bathroom. Opposite the door you were stood in front of at the other end of the room was his closet the door was ajar so you could see most of his clothes, they looked organized and very fashionable. 

You had a feeling there would be some very _questionable_ stuff hidden away in that closet. On the right side of the room his double bed was placed just about the centre of the wall and on either side were nightstands with matching lamps and...ah yes there it is! 

White bagged powder freshly ripped open making a mess of the nightstand closest to Angel on the right-hand side of the bed. You shook your head, you just knew it, most people that go into the same or a similar line of work to Angel are usually doing it for a reason, for example, they need easy drug money. 

But of course, Angel’s a special case, not only does he need the money, for his subsequent drug abuse but he actually seemed to enjoy his job. You shake your head and bite back the comment that threatened to leave your lips, it wasn’t your place to tell him what he should and shouldn’t do this was hell after all so it wouldn’t matter. Besides you were a firm believer that the more you tell someone not to do something then that’s all they’re going to do, so why bother? 

You sit on the floor in front of him waiting “aren’t ya gonna ask?” He says quietly you shrug “depends, do you actually wanna talk about it or would you rather talk about something else?” You wouldn’t push him it obviously made him uncomfortable you knew the feeling and how difficult it can be for someone to talk about something that makes them feel small. You could tell that this made him feel small, his shoulders were hunched over and he was hugging Fat Nuggets like his afterlife depended on it. You could consider it endearing if you weren’t too busy worrying about him. 

You had a sneaking suspicion that it was loosely related to his work somehow, he shrugged leaning over you he was able to reach the box leaning back he dropped it into your lap “open it” he says eyeing the box before petting the pig once more. You open the box gently tugging on the gold bow it practically unravelled itself lifting the lid there placed in fancy-looking packaging paper curls were what looked to be gold coloured glass roses. 

All tied together at the stems, each as fake as the first and all looking extremely expensive, some fan, whoever sent this must be loaded you look up with a frown, a question danced on your lips but you didn’t dare to ask it he passes you the card which was lodged in-between two of his long fingers. You take it and read the curly writing. 

_‘To my dearest Angel Cakes’,_ it was signed Val, who the fuck was Val? Now you’re just more confused glancing back up “this isn’t just some fan is it?” You ask warily you were starting to feel uncomfortable this felt strange it was too much to be a fan. It was creepy and possessive, it was made to look kind but you just felt like they were trying too hard to look...nice. 

You could understand fans sending creepy letters and maybe low-grade gifts but this looked expensive this person had gone through far too much trouble to just be a fan. Angel nodded “yeah no... It’s Val, or most know him as Valentino, he’s the owner of porn productions, he’s an overlord and he’s my boss...” you shivered, in other words, he was basically Angel’s pimp, yuck! 

You pull a disgusted face weren’t pimps like super fucking mean? You were clueless you had no experience in this area at all and you weren’t desperate to learn about it “okay why?” Was all you could manage as you pointed to the box of gold roses “I’m his _‘favourite’_ apparently.” He shivers and you can’t tell if it’s in fear or disgust or both and for the life of you, you can’t help but do the same because that word ‘ _Favourite'_ rang loud and clear like a warning in your skull. 

You have to hold down the bile that threatened to rise up your throat because that sounded so familiar, where had you heard that before? Your eyes squint as you rack your brain trying to remember where you’d heard those words and sudden realization punches you in the gut: 

_Of course, you’d been sick, lead in bed everyone had looked after you and after leaving your room to sleep, after passing out for the first time, Alastor had turned to you with this creepy ass smile and said: “Have a lovely sleep, my_ ** _favourite_** _darling fox.”_

You wanted to be sick all over again your stomach was churning in nausea, nerves were taking over holding the box of roses in your hands you now knew you had been right to feel uncomfortable because you’d been there, Alastor wasn’t going to do shit like this though, right? You had a feeling that even if the answer was no it still wouldn’t make you feel better, because you truly don’t know to what extent he’ll take things to. You look up at Angel with determination “do you actually want these?” You ask knowing the answer he gives you this look. 

You know, as if you had just grown three heads “uh, ew, no!?” He exclaims “wanna break them?” You offer with a smile you pick up one of the glass roses it looked so fragile you knew it wouldn’t take much but it would allow Angel to let off some steam “I don’t think that’ll help toots” he says dejectedly “awh come on Angel they’re so ugly looking” you say in a whiny voice. Not only that but you didn’t want to sit with them in your lap anymore it just felt a disturbing reminder that hell was a place where anything goes, there are no rules. That thought was less than comforting. 

He chuckles it’s true they may look expensive but that didn’t mean they looked good he sighed “we can’t break them in here, I don’t want Fat Nugs’ to walk in broken glass again, he’s still got cuts from last time” he mutters looking down at the pig’s poor little hooves “well obviously, let’s go outside” you reply. Angel pauses smirking up at you and it almost like you knew. 

You both scramble to get to the door holding the box of _extremely fragile glass roses_ you both run through the corridors of the hotel giggling like school children, you couldn’t remember a time when you had felt so silly and excited, you both pass by Alastor and Niffty, both of which gave you strange looks, just as Angel was turning back to you “I really wish we had a bat or some shit!” He yells you pause in your running Alastor was able to make things appear out of thin fucking air. 

You walk backwards a few paces and turn your head to look at him “Alastor do you know what a baseball bat is?” You ask curiously the look he gives you nearly had you rolling on the floor laughing he sighs and summons said bat holding it up between just a few fingers with incredible balance, you were nearly jealous, nearly. 

“You mean this, my dear fox?” He says static dancing over your skin, making you want to forget the whole ordeal and tell Angel to just make do with one, but you just had to ignore it for a few minutes, and remind yourself that it would be worth it “yes I wonder if I might be able to borrow that?” You say pointing to it a single eyebrow raises “my dear whatever for?” You were nearly lost for words “does it matter, please Alastor I’ll bring it right back I swear.” 

Alastor opens his mouth to speak and honestly, you don’t have time to listen to whatever he’s about to spiel you instead grab the bat and start running for dear life “thanks, Al!” You yell leaving him with slightly parted lips though for him it could be a full-on jaw drop. 

Angel belly laughed and sprinted trying to keep up with you, honestly, you had thought for a split second that Alastor would appear out of nowhere to find out what you were doing but the longer you kept running the more realized he wasn’t going to... _maybe._ You now have this distinct feeling that you’d shocked him enough to keep in in place for a while, that might quickly become your new favourite game if you play your cards right. 

You and Angel race down the stairs making far too much noise still giggling to yourselves, Husk was stood behind the bar drinking but the minute he saw you two racing toward the doors you could swear you’d seen his soul leave his body as he ducked down behind the bar as if to hide from you both. you reach the lobby doors and burst through them, making quite the ruckus. 

You quickly place the box of roses on the wooden boards' Angel descends the four steps taking the bat from your hands and walking a few paces away you pick up one of the roses and walk down to the bottom step before stopping the rose was cold and had a slight weight to it which made sense if you thought about it you look up and laugh at Angel’s eagerness. 

He’s already stood with the bat in position your laugh simmers down into a smirk “ya ready Angel?!” You shout he grins “born ready, toots!” You nod throwing the first glass rose, as hard as you possibly can, you watch it sore through the air and when the bat connects there’s a satisfying crunch as the glass shatters. 

You share a brief moment of shock and awe before Angel looks back up at you, there’s this childish joy shining in his eyes and you simply couldn’t be happier to see him already looking as though he were feeling better “Again!” he shouts, you can tell this was going to be an _interesting_ evening. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I know this chapter isn't too exciting but bare with me! Thanks so much for reading and I still hope you enjoyed it, as always if you notice any mistakes don't hesitate to tell me all comments are greatly appreciated.  
> I'll see you all next week for the next Chapter! Thanks again!


	9. Someone’s in the Kitchen with Alastor!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending some quality time with Angel, you end up spending some even more quality time with what appears to be a very jealous Alastor, clueless as to why he feels this way, he's determined to give you a reason to be spending more time with him instead. 
> 
> Yet he has no idea just how confused it's making you feel? And you have no idea why you're reacting this way!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Heavy Editing📢 This chapter has been heavily edited and may look different and longer than it had previously!

As the last golden glass rose soars through the air and Angel successfully hits it with the bat, you watch, slightly out of breath, as he quickly scuttles around the surrounding area breaking all the pieces that had somehow managed to escape unscathed until they looked like nothing but fine grains of golden sand. You definitely weren’t going to be walking around out here barefoot anytime soon! 

The fine grains of glass sparkled in the light of the hotel, and you could almost consider them like a blanket of stars on the dirt-covered ground. You secretly hoped you wouldn’t have to clean this shit up otherwise you wouldn’t be suggesting shit like this to Angel, again, anytime soon. 

When he finally bounds up to you, there’s a large smile on his face, his eyes are lit up and whatever tension had built up in his body had disappeared just like you had hoped, he almost looked as if he were bathing in afterglow, “feel better?” You question with raised eyebrows and a knowing grin he nods “didn’t realise that I needed to blow off steam, usually I do it in different ways-” you make a disgusting sound throwing your hands up in the air. 

“Ah! I don’t need to know that, Angel!” You yell feeling grossed out; you didn’t need to know where that train of thought was going, not at all. Angel laughs and after a few minutes you do too, you hadn’t thought that breaking a few glass roses with Angel would make you feel better too, all you had done was throw them one right after the other but it was still fun. You look up at the darkening sky, you kinda’ wished there were stars but alas. 

If Hell didn’t have a sun or a moon then why would it make an exception for stars, right? You wished that it would and you could lament on it for days but you knew it would never change, it made you wonder if heaven had stars, or a sun, or a moon. You sigh quietly taking a seat on the creaky wooden steps Angel follows you sitting a few steps up from you making him seem even taller. He stood the bat up between his legs with the handle pointing up toward the sky. 

He leaned an arm on the stub of it and leaned his head on his arm, one of his legs comes up to support his elbow the other lay languidly down the rest of the steps, his eyes trail the dark red hues of the darkening sky. His gaze seemed wistful and you had a feeling that maybe, just maybe, he also missed seeing stars, or just simply seeing something else in the atmosphere. Something more than that stupid ass pentagram. 

“You know my twin sister and I used to sit and watch the clouds fly by on windy days we’d try to make shapes out of them and give them stories” he confessed; he had a twin sister? You would have found that hard to believe but the broken expression painted on his face told you everything you needed to know. He missed her, he missed her so much it pained him. He missed her so much that he felt the need to talk about her. You get it...you missed Mike, more than anything. 

He missed her so much he had trusted you with the memories of her that he held close to his heart. “That sounds nice, she sounds lovely” you reply you could relate, you understood how he was feeling. You wanted nothing more than to shower him with affection and tell him it would be okay but Angel didn’t seem like the type. You’d hate to ruin his reputation; such a thing must be necessary to maintain here in Hell. 

Especially if you want to be taken seriously. He didn’t say anymore, didn’t reply, but you could hear the shaky breaths and you could feel your heartbreak a little. It didn’t seem like he had a lot of people he felt he could open up to. Either that, or he was always super guarded, refusing to show anyone the weaker parts of himself. 

You guessed that having weaknesses on show would give others ammunition to bring you down, putting up a front is easier, and you all do it. You father had done it, you were damn sure your mother had done it. You do it, even now. As open as you are you haven’t told them everything, you can’t. If you keep it locked away then it will always be safe, you’ll always be safe. And that’s the lie you’d told yourself for years...ever since you were six-years-old. 

_It’s so draining..._

To put up a front for so long that you struggle to let people see the real you, and you get it, some peoples walls are higher than others and his walls were pretty damn high. He looks down at you and seems to realize that you’ve been staring at him for quite a while he smiles, façade back in full effect. Walls that had crumbled suddenly strengthened, re-building again refusing to be knocked down. “So, what are ya' cooking for dinner, toots?” His voice wobbles and you can see him cursing himself for it. 

You decide to let him open up in his own time, you wouldn’t get anything out of pushing him, well nothing but arguments you’re guessing, you grin back at him “steak” you answer simply his eyes light up “medium-rare!?” He asks excitedly shuffling about in his awkward position “if that’s what want, Angel” you reply, it was sweet that he got excited over such simple things. 

He nods his head enthusiastically and you laugh “alrighty then, I gotta go ask what everyone else wants their steak to be cooked like” you huff clumsily scrambling to your feet Angel rolls his eyes “I’m gonna go see if Fat Nugs’ is hungry” you nod to the bat in his hand “let me take that back to Alastor, with any luck he won’t beat me to death with it.” You laugh nervously, truth be told you were damned terrified at the thought of taking it back to him, but it’s not exactly like you had much of a choice. 

Angel hands you the bat with a wary look “uh, listen, toots, I know it’s none of my business and all but uh” He pauses and rubs the back of his neck, glancing at the hotel doors as if they could hear him as if the whole building might come alive next to you both. You weren’t about to doubt it either, sighing, his eyes meet yours his expression is serious and worried, his eyebrows are pinched together and his eyes seemed to convey deep concern “look if you ever need to get away from, Smiles, then you can come to my room for a while okay?” He offers quietly. 

You nod slightly your eyebrows draw downwards and worry lines litter your forehead you wanted to ask where all this was coming from because quite frankly with everyone's warnings you were starting to get really freaked out, did they know something you didn’t? The minute your lips part to speak, you’re cut off “but only for a little while, I’m not a charity case okay, toots?” He adds trying to ease the discomfort of the topic, you nod again this time finding no words to say. 

He nods once like he accomplished an important task; he hesitates but without another word walks back into the hotel to, you assume, feed Fat Nuggets. You shake your head with a silly smile spreading its way across your face, you unconsciously run your tongue over your teeth feeling two unusually long and sharp canines the rest of your teeth were blunt and straight. You were starting to question whether or not you were making a mistake in letting Alastor help with dinner tonight, you can’t help but feel that he’s hiding a lot more than he lets on. 

You know he’s hiding things, it’s Alastor for crying out loud! Of course, he’s hiding things from you, but you also feel like he’s hiding much more than he wants you to know about. You can’t help but feel as if you’re an experiment to him, a lab rat. Things seem to happen so quickly down here, Charlie seems to think that you’re fast becoming an object of affection to a certain feline, and in reality, you’re fast becoming a certain Radio Demon’s favourite plaything. You sigh. 

Sending one more longing glance back up at the sky, watching the red hues swirling around in the empty atmosphere you wander back into the hotel completely unaware of the equally deep red eyes that had been watching you the minute you and Angel had burst through the doors. 

**_A few hours ago, right after you snatched the bat from Alastor’s unsuspecting fingers..._ **

He stood staring at the space you had once been in, agape. He had not been expecting you to do that. Niffty had already started chattering away about how strange that had been but all he could think about was the way you had smiled... _no the way you had grinned at Angel._ Your eyes were alight with mirth and he had never seen a smile so big grace your admirable features before. First Husk and now Angel, how were they getting such pleasing reactions from you?! 

He hadn’t moved from his position since you left his hand was still where it had been holding a now imaginary object. Oh yes, Niffty may have been talking but all he could hear was your laughter tangling with Angel’s in joy. The thought was enough to make him clench his fist in annoyance. He was furious with this development, you smiled around them, laughed around them, and yet he was none the wiser as to how they were able to elicit such reactions, he despised not knowing how to do something that others were able to achieve so easily. 

He had clenched his fist so hard a few of his fingers had cracked the sound echoed menacingly around the corridor it had been enough for Niffty to raise her eyebrows and ultimately decide to walk away. Leaving him to his less than kind thoughts. Annoying you had been a wonderful reaction indeed but the others appeared to be besting him in getting more pleasing reactions from you, reactions that kept you coming back to them. 

He hadn’t made the decision to move from his current position his body had done that for him. It had taken the change in scenery to shake him from his thoughts and of course, his body had carried him to a window where he could see you both clearly. There you were, your orange and yellow hair braided, and yet still far too long just gently caressing the ground beneath it. 

A huge grin gracing your features and it was all aimed at... _Angel._ Who, of course, was grinning back at you, curse him! Alastor leaned a hand against one of the wooden window frames. He watches as you throw rose after rose for Angel to break, he listens intently hearing you laugh together, shouting to each other about how ugly the roses were, bonding together how he hated the sight and yet he continued to torture himself with it. 

He drags his claws down the wood, making very noticeable claw marks deep in the wooden frame. _Fun_. You were having _fun_ with Angel. He watches on as the effeminate fellow goes around, breaking up pieces of glass that seemed to escape him until he was satisfied you had stood and watched with soft eyes and a tender smile. 

He watches that same fellow glide back over to you as you share a laugh, he saw you both having a _moment_ together on the rotten wood steps outside, you were sharing your feelings with him, why? Why did you feel the need for that? He felt irritation like no other settling over his body he hated this. He wanted to scream it from this window. He wanted all of hell to know how much he hated the scene that was taking place. 

But it was nothing compared to the anger that flared up in him when he listened to the conversation you had before entering the hotel once more. You had turned to Angel mentioning something about the dinner you’d be making. His thoughts had started to settle remembering that you had agreed to let him help you. 

But that’s when Angel had the nerve to warn you away from him, had the nerve to provide you with a safe place to run to that he couldn’t enter his smile dropped. He was lucky no one could see him right now, he looked positively terrifying. He was only too glad that you couldn’t see him from this position. He didn’t want to give you a reason to take Angel up on his _generous_ offer. 

Well, if everyone here were giving you a reason to avoid him, he’d just have to give you a very good reason not to. He wasn’t about to lose his favourite fox to some silly, albeit true, rumours. 

You’d finally finished asking the others how they wanted their steaks to be cooked and now you were searching for Alastor, you had said you’d let him help and you would feel genuinely bad if you started without him though in all honesty, you had this feeling, he would just sort of take over and do most of the work, you weren’t sure why but he just seemed like the type to get really controlling when it came to activities such as this. 

When you did find him, it was in a large library you’d been there on the odd occasion but you’d never spent any leisure time in there, you never even touched any of the books really, you and Niffty simply made sure to dust every square inch of the place and you guess now you knew why. You had a sneaky feeling that Alastor spent a lot of time in here. 

He was sat in a high back seat, it had black velvet padding and golden apples dotted about on it, apples seemed to be a reoccurring theme around here, it reminded you that you should really ask Charlie why that was. He had a book in his lap and was still as a statue and looking comfortable you stand there for a few minutes intrigued, “are you going to stand there staring at me for much longer, my dear?” He says without lifting his head to look at you. 

He simply turns a page in his book waiting for your response, curse him and his huge ears! You walk over to him still dragging the bat behind you it made a slight scratching sound as you dragged it across the bare wood floor and when you’re at a decent enough distance from him, where you’re not calling to him from across the room, you smile as innocently as possible in the hopes he’d spare you from whatever he might have planned for you, you could only imagine what such demon could possibly think up especially in a mind as apparently twisted as his own. 

“What are you reading there, Al?” You ask gently you’d hate to pull him out of such a calm mood if he’s calm then surely that’s got to be a good thing, though you’re starting to feel this sense of dread building up in the form of moths in your stomach. That’s never a good sign you’ve always trusted your gut and it’s never let you down so far so you highly doubted it was gonna start now! His other hand had been resting on the padded arm of his seat but those unusually long nails of his were digging into the padding, enough to cause little dents. You were going to take that a subtle warning. 

Yet, you could barely feel the static in the air so, you assumed, he must be holding something back a tidal wave of insanity maybe? Or maybe he was irritated because you had disrupted his reading? He placed a claw to hover over the line he had been reading a temporary marker to keep its place so he wouldn’t lose it. He looks up at you his smile is close-lipped, which in the past hadn't been a good thing. That sense of dread just kept building until you were so sure it would burst. 

“Nothing of import, dear, is there any specific reason why you’re here?” He asked, he seemed a bit off, you didn’t want to ask if something was upsetting him. You didn’t know Alastor like you knew the others, you didn’t know what his triggers were. Or even what his possible triggers were or if he even had triggers, knowing him anything could set him off or he could even set himself off it’s like tiptoeing around a ticking time-bomb you know it’s going to blow up you just don’t know when. 

You pull out the bat from behind your back feeling silly that you’d even tried to hide it you were sure he knew it was there “well first I was gonna return this to you, and say thanks for letting me borrow it...not like I gave you much of a choice though, huh?” You say rubbing the back of your neck feeling uncomfortable and nervous. He eyed the bat in your hand, before lifting them to look at you he raised a single eyebrow and clicked his fingers. 

The bat disappeared from your grasp, making you jump slightly you eye your hand for a few minutes your nimble fingers hovering in the air holding a now imaginary object, it was such an odd feeling and you so wished he would give a warning when he was going to do something like that especially if you were touching it. When he speaks again the atmosphere between you both is far more tense and thick, so thick that the very air was suffocating, you couldn’t breathe. Had you upset him when you had taken the bat earlier? 

Did something that simple really bother him so? Why? You couldn’t wrap your head around his odd behaviour today and yet you weren’t really sure you wanted to, he had after all been petty enough to rip a ladder from underneath you simply to get a rise out of you, so why should you care if taking one measly object from him pissed him off? The answer to this was so simple it bordered on blatantly obvious, you shouldn’t care so therefore you don’t! 

“Is that all?” He asks, he didn’t use any pet names this time and it made your stomach twist before dropping, you were getting ‘ _get the fuck out_ ’ vibes from him, but it’s strange because his expression looks slightly confused from time to time “uh, well I was gonna start making food soon and I know I had agreed for you to help so I wanted to come and find you, but if you’re busy or if you’ve changed your mind then that’s okay too” you bite your tongue forcing yourself to clench your jaw. 

Officially far too many words came out of your mouth just now, try to dial it back a bit, you think taking a deep breath “if you’re reading and you don’t wanna help anymore that’s totally okay, but I’m just gonna...yeah...okay” You turn to talk out of the library. You literally couldn’t get out fast enough, you felt like an idiot and you were getting strong ass danger vibes. Chills were running up and down your spine, it was starting to feel like an endurance race and yet you had to keep yourself composed. 

You felt like smashing your face into a brick wall over and over again that was the most awkward you’ve felt since you arrived at the hotel, why did he have to be the one that had such a profound effect on you? You didn’t even spend time with the guy! He freaked you out more than anything, but his weird gentlemanly personality made your stomach do fucking flips. Why? You obviously knew why, but just why? You groaned internally, why couldn’t you have just liked Husk? It would be so much easier! Being around Husk is as easy as breathing, yet being around Alastor made you feel like you’d stopped breathing! 

_Most of the time that’s because you had!_

“Do you take great enjoyment in having one-sided conversations? Or is that a recent development?” He calls out to you; you vaguely hear the sound of the heavy book being placed on a table, the rustling of clothes you could only assume he’d gotten up. you turn to face him and jump fucking three feet into the air when you see that you’re, already, face to face with him. How had he gotten over to you so fucking fast? He literally just put the fucking book down! 

He’s bent at the waist right behind you, there’s this mischievous gleam in his eyes like he had been planning to elicit such a reaction. You cover your face with your hand, you should have known really if there’s anything Alastor is good at, it’s making you jump out of your skin. Get a grip, this is Alastor! Just get a fucking grip! That should be easy, this is easy he makes you uncomfy end of conversation! 

You fight down the blush you feel threatening to burst to life on your cheeks and neck, like fireworks on the 5th of November “I don’t generally have conversations with myself, no” you reply, you don’t fail to realize that once again he hadn’t given you a pet name. Your hand is gently removed from your face. 

You see Alastor’s hand wrapped around your wrist, it wasn’t tight or uncomfortable, it was gentle and nice. Even through his thick glove, his hand felt ice cold. “I don’t remember saying that I had changed my mind about helping you, little fox” his voice was low and almost static-free which was a big surprise but at the moment a welcomed change because the static had started to make you feel sick it was yet another reason you tried to avoid him, the static clung to him and sometimes he seemed to use it to hide in but the heaviness of it sometimes made you ill. 

His voice, his real voice, was velvet-like and dare you say it... _charming_. Why was he acting like this now? He never seemed to act like this, what’s gotten into him? “So, you still want to help?” You ask quietly afraid to break the new calm atmosphere by raising your voice too much. You didn’t want to put him in a mood, you seemed to be very accommodating like that. 

You look up into his eyes, and you struggle to not let your breath catch in your throat you swallow thickly. His stare was so intense it made your heart pound you could hear the blood rushing in your head. “Of course, I had offered my help, why would I change my mind, my little fox?” His breath blew over you slightly and even that seemed ice cold. You thank your lucky stars his breath doesn’t stink. 

You were struggling to keep your heart at an even pace. You opened your mouth with the intent to speak but no words came out, you didn’t even know what to say. You shut your mouth again “little fox?” Damn it, why did he have to call you that? Come to think of it, why did he have loads of little pet names for you? He seemed to come up with new ones on the fly every day. Husk and the others seemed to either struggle to find one, or simply stick to just one. A general one. But Alastor had tonnes of personalized pet names just for you, did he sit and think about it? Creepy. 

You close your eyes tightly, tilting your head down. The more you looked into his eyes the more intense the feeling got you felt another gloved hand cup your cheek forcing your head back up, you refused to open your eyes. His thumb strokes your cheek lightly “My little fox?” He whispers once again. You clench your teeth together you are in a seriously dangerous situation and you couldn’t call for anyone, you were absolutely powerless. 

You had to be careful this was a powerful demon, one that had been in Hell far longer than you had, one that had multiple powers, one that could probably reduce to a quivering pile of nothing with words alone. It’s not like you could really run from him right now and his mood seemed to change rapidly, sometimes he was accommodating and polite and other times he was an absolute arse hole! You needed to get somewhere that was at least a little more crowded than the library was. 

His breath was fanning over your face indicating he’d gotten even closer to you, you clear your throat and open your eyes, they widen as you see the distance between you or should you say the lack of it. “Uh well, we should go don’t you think? Shouldn’t keep everyone waiting right? That would be awfully rude of us!” You exclaim in a rush, nerves getting the better of you. 

You start blindly searching for the door handle with your free hand and once you find it you turn it pulling the door open you spin around on the spot with the arm that’s still in his grasp you tightly grip onto his wrist as well and start dragging him down the hallway, which he surprisingly allows. You don’t realize it but you’re stronger than you look, he’s not letting you pull him down the hallway, but as you happened to catch him off guard for a moment, he’s struggling to get the control back. 

All the while you’re completely unaware of the triumphant grin that had taken residence on his face, but he had a lovely view of the blush on yours, it reached the tips of your ears and all the way down your neck as well. He hadn’t thought that such a simple thing would elicit that kind of reaction out of you. It calmed him greatly, but that’s not the only reason he was grinning, he’d done it again he’d gotten under your skin again, it was just a mildly different way of doing it, therefore, getting a different reaction he could feel your annoyance. 

But it wasn’t just aimed at him it was aimed at yourself as well, why he wasn’t quite sure but he was happy, he shouldn’t be the only one feeling slightly irritated today after all it was you and Angel who had caused his displeasure, he deemed it only fair to return the favour and he wanted nothing more than to put that foul mood behind him. 

He liked this reaction much more than the last one, yes, your unrestricted yell had sent a thrill down his spine, naturally, but this was unlike anything you’ve ever given him before. It was such a lovely look on you, his eyes travel down to where you had your fingers curled around his wrist tightly, he must admit he’d probably have a slight bruise there later but he merely saw it as a little memento, after all, he had yet to let you go. And even if he did you were still dragging him down the hallways, he supposed he didn’t mind too much. 

You felt the heat on your face die down just in time, as you reached the stairs leading down into the Lobby, and thank Lucifer no one but Husk was in there you didn’t even slow down or stop to chat with him if anything you sped up practically running into the kitchen with Alastor in toe you stop abruptly. Great now you’re in another room...alone...with him...perfect! Was this not the exact thing you had been trying to avoid?! 

You stopped a little too abruptly Alastor has to catch himself on the kitchen island so he didn’t collide into the back of you. You still hadn’t let go of his wrist and you were sort of struggling to if you were to be completely honest with yourself. You were afraid that if you let go if you gave him free rein, he would try to somehow get closer to you again. But then again if you don’t let go then he’s still close to you so really, there’s no upside, either way, he gets what he wants. 

The worst thing was you couldn’t decide if that was a bad thing or a _terrifying_ thing “my dear, as nice as it is to simply be stood in your company, we really should start cooking lest they all _starve_ ” he laughs quietly because obviously, they can’t starve, but you don’t laugh with him wrapped up in your own thoughts, he’s still keeping the static out of his voice. You didn’t like that; he was doing it on purpose it’s almost like he knew you liked it. 

... _NO!_ You didn’t like it, nope, not at all, nuh-uh, nope not you. Oh, who were you kidding, apparently, not him. How were you supposed to work alongside him if he was going to be talking like _that?_ Ugh, how were you even supposed to face him after the library incident? You feel him move a little closer and whatever body heat he had invaded your space. That was when you knew that this was fruitless you were never going to get your way in a situation like this, not at all. 

You can feel his chest brush against your back slightly he’s close but he’s not close enough to be completely crowding you, it is, however, far closer than you’d expected him to be. You’d heard first hand from Husk and Angel, heck, even Niffty that he didn’t like to be touched, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious to you that he doesn’t mind crowding other people on his own terms. If they’re uncomfortable then it’s not his problem. 

“My dear, are we really going to stand here for the rest of the day?” He asks, his voice is gentle and quiet “you do know you dragged me all the way here, right my little fox?” He must know what he’s doing? Right? Surely, he can tell that you’re flustered and that he was causing it? Or was he really that clueless? Perhaps you should ask Husk or Niffty sometime they seemed to know him more intimately even if they didn’t really want to. 

Your emotional turmoil was running rampant and unchecked, you just couldn’t seem to focus properly “my dear, you need to eat before you faint, I’d hate to see you faint again, though, I wouldn’t mind catching you, little fox” he whispers. 

This simultaneously surprises you and doesn’t surprise you after passing out the last time you were damn sure the others had chalked it up to him and sure maybe he had stressed you out a bit on purpose but you passing out wasn’t entirely his fault, at least that’s what you believed. You turn to look at him your shoulder brushes against his chest lightly you knew he was walking on thin ice with the others. But part of you wanted to tell him that he’s walking on thin ice with you right now. 

“Why?” You ask without thinking, if you could just shove yourself into the oven right now that would be fantastic! “I would not consider it a pleasant experience, then I’d have to cook dinner alone” he replies looking you dead in the eye, of course, he didn’t want to cook alone, doesn’t he do that every single day anyway? And on those days, it seldom seemed to matter, yet today it would be a shame? Really? What changed? He brushes the back of his fingers over your check before pushing back a stray strand of your hair. You drop his wrist like it had burned you snatching your hand back you realized that now it doesn’t matter. 

If he wanted to be close to you, he would be, no matter what preventative measures you took. You chew on your bottom lip for a minute before turning away and preparing to make food. You washed your hands as per usual and made sure to keep your ears trained on him you were sure he was probably doing the same. Is this how your interactions with him were going to be from now on? Inappropriately intimate and extremely exhausting and worse yet more thought-provoking than any puzzle you’ve ever had the misfortune of figuring out in your life? 

“This will be a nice change of pace I haven’t had company in the kitchen for many moons, my dear,” he says offhandedly you hum at the new offered piece of information, not many at the hotel were so willing to talk about their pasts with you, Husker had opened up a little but the other? Not so much “I haven’t cooked with anyone ever” you hear him still in his movements for a moment “well, I’m glad to share this with you then, my darling fox” his voice was smooth and sincere. 

You turn back around drying your hands you smile brightly “thanks, me too” now if you had stopped to watch his reaction you would have seen a light dusting of blush spread like wildfire across his cheeks, but he covers it quickly with one hand. Though he’d never admit it, he loved it when you smiled so sincerely at him, he thought it the sweetest thing you could possibly do even if he wasn’t very fond of sweet things personally. 

You’d both been cooking a while and the smell was making you very hungry, but you and Alastor talking had made the time go by so much quicker. He said that his mother had taught him to cook, saying something along the lines of having to take care of one’s self. He’d even told you a bit about his upbringing, he was a total mama’s boy for sure! But it was almost endearing to see him light up whenever he spoke of her, and he didn’t have a bad word to say about her, not one. 

You envied the upbringing he’d had; sure, he was an only child and apparently his father was never around, he didn’t elaborate on that, but he’d had a mother who genuinely seemed to care about him, it must have been nice. “I had to teach myself to cook,” you say absentmindedly. You were sure had your mother been alive long enough she would have gladly taught you and she would have sung with you while preparing delicious meals you could almost imagine it. 

Alastor gives you this incredulous look “what about your family didn’t they teach you anything?” He asks turning the stakes he’d insisted he cooked them so you wouldn’t burn yourself you frown “the best my dad and brothers could do were canned soup and microwave meals, and my mother died when I was six, so I had to teach myself if I wanted something decent to eat, take it from me you can only survive so long on microwave meals before you start to hate the mere thought of them” You mumble, taking a deep breath you shake your head. 

You look up at him with an amused expression “you’re looking at the chef of the family and even then, I’m not that good” you add, you were in charge of the fries which wasn’t terribly difficult you just had to make sure you didn’t overcook them. You wished you could remember what your mothers cooking tasted like but you just couldn’t Alastor gave your shoulder an awkward pat before snatching his arm back “I’m terribly sorry, dear, I wish you could have had a better childhood.” 

You smile before you hear him start to tut next to you “and do not doubt yourself, your meals are lovely, my dear, self-taught or not your meals are better than most I’ve had in my time down here in hell” you paused that was a compliment “that was a compliment” you blurt out he turns his head to look at you with a big grin “why yes I believe it was, are you unfamiliar with them? That’s strange I could have sworn that Husker had given you one earlier and you didn’t bat an eye” he taunts. 

Your jaw all but drops to the floor, he just sassed you! “Uh well...that’s-” Alastor shakes his head as if he knew what you were about to say “no it is not different, my dear, I assure you” he looks at you through half-lidded eyes, a small smile lingered on his lips and it takes your breath away. So much so that you hurry to find other things to do. You simply couldn’t allow yourself to think fondly of the Radio Demon, you could be civil with him, friendly with him, heck you two could even share a laugh or two but you most certainly couldn’t let yourself develop feelings for him because that’s how you get hurt. 

“May I ask you a question?” He says while you’re busy pulling out plates and placing them on the table “sure, Al” you reply causally thinking nothing of it “why can’t you seem to look me in the eye anymore, _my_ _darling little fox?”_ He asks you nearly drop all the plates, in fact, you have to scramble to the table just to ensure their safety, the static in the room that was barely present earlier had completely evacuated from the building. It was nice but it made this situation that much more nerve-wracking. 

His voice was clear, it didn’t break as if he were on a radio anymore; it was completely one-hundred per cent him. A worried sound escaped you throat just barely you were still hovering over the table while he’d taken the food off of the heat signalling that it was done. You brain seemed to be completely frozen, how were you supposed to reply? You felt like you had one too many tabs open in your head and now it had simply crashed under the pressure of adding more to it. 

But even as he turned to look at you, he didn’t say anything else he wanted you to answer the question and you couldn’t not only do you not have an answer, a fake one, you couldn’t face the reason why yourself, so how were you supposed to explain that to him! You’re not even sure if he understands himself half the time and he was expecting you to make him understand your complicated brand of mental illness! How?! 

You laugh nervously placing the last few plates on the table quickly as to not be caught in a situation where you could drop them again you brush yourself down “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about!” You laugh nervously you say turning to the drawer behind you and counting out the exact number of knives and forks that you’d need to set out before turning back to the table and doing exactly that “well, let me make myself perfectly clear then,” he says walking leisurely over to you he places a single finger under your chin and moves your head to look at him. You’re thankful that the table was next to you, as you practically dumped the cutlery onto the surface. 

His eyes held amusement but were still half-lidded “this is what I'm talking about, your eyes dart just about everywhere else in this room but you just can’t seem to look me in the eye, my dear” he whispers “do you perhaps feel uncomfortable?” He asks. You press your lips into a thin line “what can I do to get you to let go of my face right now?” You ask in return. 

You were uncomfortable but that’s so not the point! You hear him chuckle and the sound...as nice as it was, seemed to warn you that you’d made a terrible mistake you clenching your hand into fists to stop them from shaking “look me in eye and I will let you go” he says, it should be such a simple thing but it made you freeze in horror. You blood felt like it was turning into ice inside of your body your hands felt freezing cold and yet clammy at the same time. 

There was no escaping it as much as you hated to admit defeat so easily there was simply nothing else you could do, you firmly believed that any attempts to fight back would be futile you take in a deep breath and your eyes meet his, he smiles softly “there now was that so hard?” He says rubbing your jawline with the pad of his thumb leaving tingles to chase behind it, tingles that forced your eyes to close. You let out a huff “my hesitation was based on reasons other than difficulty” you reply in a snarky manner. You felt far more irritated which is what he wanted you could see it in his eyes. 

This was dangerous territory, he seemed to know that he had you right where he wanted you, but he didn’t seem to know exactly what it was he was doing to you your breaths had turned shaky you reach your hand up to grab his wrist again you’d had full intention of pulling it away from your face but the relaxing ministrations that he was continuing on your jawline and up to your cheek had all of the fight you’d built up drain away in seconds. 

Stood outside the kitchen door, peering through the crack was everyone else in the hotel, Vaggie, Charlie, Angel, Husk and Niffty they were all there watching the scene unfold “what do we do?” Angel whispers “we have to do something!” Vaggie whispers back angrily she had a bad feeling about this. 

Whatever his intentions were, they couldn’t be good, Husk huffs “I say we storm in there right now!” He whisper-yells while the others shush him, they didn’t need Alastor to find out they were there, even though he already knew. Charlie had stars in her eyes “they look so cute together!” She gushes which earns her a few crazed looks from the others but Niffty’s nodding her head in agreement. 

Alastor could hear them whispering behind the door he nearly laughed but paid them no mind as he watched your hand reach up to grasp his wrist again but you don’t do anything else. It’s interesting, he wonders exactly why you had done that, instead your eyes had slipped closed. It was a sweet look on you, almost helpless. Like a deer in headlights, it was a rather romantic thought, and yet you were presented as a fox he was starting to think that a deer would have suited you far more. 

The more he stroked his thumb over your jaw the more relaxed you looked he quickly put two and two together and realized that he had found a very simple way to not only calm you but make you completely unable to do just about anything. This was information that he stored away for later. Not for harmful intent mind you but if you ever got angry with him and he imagined at some point you would almost everyone did, then this is what he would do to calm you. 

“Little fox?” He whispered not wanting to be heard by the others they were lucky he had let them listen in for so long as it is “we should get the others so we can eat now” he says quietly looking for a response was watches carefully as your eyelashes fluttered against your cheeks like the butterfly wings, you simply hum contentedly into his hand. He smirks and stops, letting go of your face slowly, he hadn’t wanted to but he didn’t want everyone to see you like that, no he wanted that to be just for him. 

You open your heavy eyes feeling dazed and blink a few times before gasping and letting go of his wrist, it had only just hit you that he’d spoken the words resounded in your brain and you forced yourself to reply “uh yeah great idea I’ll go get them, and you can plate up the food, okay? Okay, great bye!” You rush hurrying toward the kitchen doors you push them open and once you’re in the clear you slap your hands onto your cheeks. 

The others were already in the lobby conveniently enough, Angel was sat at the bar Husk was obviously stood the other side of it looking a little steamed, Charlie and Vaggie were sat on the sofa and Niffty was hovering by the staircase. _Strange..._

Everything seemed normal... _too normal._ You squint at them all feeling suspicious “hey dinner’s ready” you say slowly gauging their reactions they all start to make their way over saying things like ‘finally’ or ‘I’m starved’ or ‘what took so long?’ It was too damn normal. It shouldn’t have bothered you but it did you pause watching them walk in but Husk waits for you holding the door open “you comin’?” He asks raising a singly eyebrow you frown before nodding walking through the open door lost in thought. 

Of course, Alastor had placed yours and his food next to each other at the table you’d expected as much you take your seat and without a word, everyone tucks in Alastor had done a great job not over or undercooking anyone's steak especially yours. You all finished eating in painful silence, you could feel Alastor’s gaze on you every now and then. You couldn’t understand what he was doing it was almost like he was trying to figure you out like you were some complex puzzle he couldn’t find the solution to. 

His normal demeanour had returned in full swing, static and all which had made it a little easier to avoid his gaze but it hadn’t made your nervousness any better. By the time everyone was done Vaggie and Charlie had gotten up to clean the dishes, Angel, Husk and Niffty had thanked you both and then went to do their own thing you were now left at the table with Alastor. You were struggling to find a plausible excuse to leave and go to your room for some much-needed alone time. 

You swallow thickly and quickly get up from your seat “okay well, I’m gonna go to bed been a long day and all so night guys!” You rush turning away from the table you just reach the kitchen door before Alastor stands as well “I’m on my way back to the Library I’ll walk you, my dear” you hang your head and hold back a sigh, this is exactly what you were trying to avoid. 

But he was being polite and you’d much rather that than the alternative. “Oh, okay sure” you reply trying not to sound dejected by the company the both of you leave the kitchen in silence, you ascend the stairs in silence, in fact, a good chunk of the walk back to your room, which was just around the corner from the Library, was spent in silence. It gave you time to think, actually you would probably count it as worrying instead of thinking, you were really confused as to his intentions. 

It proved to be too much for Alastor who’s static started to dull down into nothingness which could only mean he was about to start talking, which could only be bad for you. You ready yourself for what was to come, your entire body tensed in preparation. It amazed you that one voice could be so diverse simply by taking away some static and lowering the volume. 

“You’re awfully quiet, little fox,” he says softly eyeing you with careful consideration, his eyes were emitting their own gentle red glow in the dim corridors basking your face in red light from time to time “is everything alright, darling?” Your heart just about stops because in reality who didn’t want to be called darling especially by a gentleman from the time which that word was made so romantic, you were so screwed you just knew it “uh, I uh yeah I mean I’m fine” you stutter, tumbling over your words, go damn stop stuttering you’re not a teenage school-girl anymore jeez! Reaching your bedroom door, you stop staring at it, the wood on your door was chipped and looked slightly scratched interestingly enough you hadn’t noticed it before. 

You wanted nothing more than to run into your room and never come back out, which is funny because this morning the day started much differently to how it appears to be ending. “Are you sure? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so flustered” He pauses returning a hand to your chin once again you were very well aware of how much you were blushing thank you very much! 

“Oh no” you whisper, thinking that maybe you could get away with it, but of course not, not around Alastor “and what exactly are you saying ‘oh no’ to, my sweet little fox?” He asks rubbing his thumb along your jaw once again “don’t do this again” you say quietly your voice losing its fight you couldn’t do this again it relaxed you far too much he could tell you that was about to kill you and as long as he was doing that you wouldn’t be able to fight back. 

He tilts his head feigning innocence still stroking your jaw you raise your hand and grab his wrist and pull lightly without any real force his hand doesn’t budge “don’t do what, my dear?” He asks with a curious lilt in his voice before his eyes drop to his hand and slowly wander back up to your eyes. He loved how the red light from his eyes basked your face in a deep red glow and more than that he loved just how soft your green skin felt beath his fingers. 

“Oh, you mean this?” he adds, stroking your cheek a little slower empathising his words. You struggle to keep your eyes open an instinct within you is telling you that this was a fox thing and not a you thing. It settled you a little but not enough for you to be happy about this situation. He was completely in control and by the way, he was talking he fucking knew it. 

He was using this to his advantage “please” you whisper pathetically you couldn’t get away from him all of your energy was draining, your body was relaxing and you just couldn’t stand it anymore if he continued like this, you’d end up falling asleep on him and you really weren’t desperate to be that vulnerable in front of him any time soon. He gives your jaw one last long stoke before pulling his hand back you were practically clinging to his arm. 

Your legs had turned to jelly you flatten your ears to your head “I can’t go anywhere if you stay clung to my arm, my dear” Alastor whispers softly you nod but make no move to let go. He stands incredibly still watching you fight an internal battle he smirks slightly knowing that no one else would have gotten these reactions from you, not Husk or Angel, he was incredibly happy and he wanted to be the only one that could do that. 

He tilts his head at you “Dear? Are you going to let go anytime soon?” He asks you refuse to answer you’re still thinking, you’re extremely tired, you’ve had a long day, and that includes getting up early. All energy you’d had before now, had fled from your body leaving you feeling weightless, you were barely able to stand while _clinging_ to _him_. 

“I can’t” you finally reply feeling defeated and if a little irritated you were going to have to ask him to help you to your bed or you’d be crawling there “why ever not?” He questions you sigh, exasperated “because if I let go, I’ll collapse I-I don’t have the energy to walk” you trail off embarrassment was setting in and you finally collapse into his chest. 

Instead of letting you fall he sweeps you up into his arms, you let out a surprised yelp, you couldn’t decide whether you felt like a princess or a baby, based on how embarrassed you were right now you were more inclined to the latter. He opens your door with ease and strides up to the bed, gently sitting you on it “thank you.” You couldn’t believe you had been so weak he had to carry you three fucking steps! 

“You’re more than welcome, goodnight, my little fox, pleasant dreams” He whispers leaving your room closing the door behind him. You were exhausted and confused and it seemed there was a lot about your demon form that you had yet to discover. But for now, unconsciousness was going to claim your body you let yourself fall onto your pillow you notice a bottle cap on your nightstand. 

It definitely wasn’t there when you fell asleep the night before and you hadn’t noticed it this morning when you woke, a problem for another day. Your eyes slipped closed for the last time and you fall into a calming sleep. Visions of the day dancing before your eyes most of which involved a certain demon adorned in red. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading, again I'm sorry if this new update schedule is throwing you off a bit, but as I mentioned I am ill and extremely bored. Updates may go back to normal when I get better and if they do I'll let you know!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this and I'll see you when the next update comes about!


	10. Shall We Dance, My Dear?...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What started off as a distressing night turns into something tender and inexplicable. You hoped for one day without shenanigans but would you get one? You doubted it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Editing📢 This Chapter has been slightly edited and therefore may read differently before!

You may have been overly optimistic when you fell asleep earlier, you jolt awake your dreams had been plagued by visions of _him_ clad in nothing but red that colour you were coming to dislike seeing so much of, some of the dreams were of the usual, eating dinner with the others or even just basic memories of him. But others were sinister and it was almost like your subconscious was trying to remind of exactly what he was. 

You roll your eyes; you didn’t need the reminder it was evident to you that Alastor was in Hell for a reason you rub your hands over your face feeling the cool sheets pressed beneath you, glancing at the time you notice it’s still really dark in your room you’d only slept for about two hours. You sigh closing your eyes and rolling over facing your back to the door. The cushion under your head slowly starting to lull you back into sleep. 

That’s when it becomes evident to you your eyes fly open again, you’d heard something. The last dream you’d had was relatively normal there was no need for it to jolt you awake like that. No, you’d heard something in your room crash just loud enough for it to wake you. But you were the only one in here. 

_Right?..._

Chills skittered up and down your spine and a cold sweat formed on your forehead. You sit up and glance about your room it was so dark but suddenly the objects in your room became clearer, your small vanity was much unchanged the trolly with the TV on it from the other day was still against your wall where Husk had left it, your eyes dart from pillow to post trying to find the source of the noise but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. You’re suddenly struck with memories of the previous night when you had seen that dark formless figure. 

You swallow thickly, the hairs on your neck and arms were stood up straight every single fibre of your being was begging you to just leave the room and completely ignore the instinct welling up within you. But that instinct was telling you...no it was screaming at you to look under your bed. Where you were damn sure that thing had scuttled off to last time. 

Slowly you start to edge over to the side of your bed gripping the bedframe tightly you start to lean down to peek under at the sizable gap under your bed. It takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the new darkness, it seemed much darker under there than it did anywhere else in your room but when they did you, thankfully, saw nothing. 

You pull yourself back up and release a shaky breath before letting out a nervous laugh it was silly of you to think that, that shadow had been anything. You were extremely sick and probably hallucinating the whole thing. You shake your head and get out of bed making your way to the bathroom you pop the light on and lean against the sink. 

You stare at your odd reflection in the mirror, no matter how many times you looked at your new appearance you’d never get used to it. There were dark circles under your eyes you huffed at them rubbing your eyes with the back of your hands you quickly run the cold tap. 

Cupping your hands together you gather the cool water you close your eyes and splash it over your face multiple times until you start feeling yourself again, keeping your eyes closed you turn off the water and reach for a towel, drying your face. Once you’ve finished your eyes flutter open to look back into the mirror. 

You glance over your appearance before the overwhelming feeling that something was wrong settles over you again your eyes widen you glance behind you in the mirror. Reflected there you can see a bit of your bed, your closet which was closed as per usual and your open bedroom door. 

_Your open bedroom door..._

A door that definitely wasn’t open when you’d walked into the bathroom not two minutes ago. That could mean two things either there was something outside your room that wanted in or, the more disturbing, there was something inside your room that wanted out. 

Your throat dries in horror at the realization that maybe you really had seen that figure, that you really had heard something making a loud noise in your room while you were sleeping. You suddenly felt nauseated. Yet, your feet were calmly walking you to the open door, you peer around it and see nothing but the hallway that usually greets you. 

However, it's very dimly lit you glance back at your room in the dark there was nothing you could see that was either missing or otherwise. You try flipping the light switch but nothing, the lightbulb probably needed replacing. Damn. 

You send another worried glance out into the hallway before you start to close the door, that’s when movement catches your eye out in the hallway you fling the door open and rush out to catch the culprit you see a shadow slink around the left corner at the far end of the corridor but you couldn’t make out who’s it was. 

You follow quickly behind turning the corner just in time to catch another glimpse of it taking a right you follow it down many hallways, up flights of stairs, all of which were poorly lit and gave you legitimate creeps. But you just had to know who was up at such an hour. Had they been messing with you? That’s wasn’t okay! 

You take another left before you’ve completely lost sight of them you look around and find that you haven’t been taking any notice of where you were going and you had no idea how to get back to your room, trust you to follow a shadow blindly! You feel like Alice, who followed the white rabbit, now you’re really down the rabbit hole and there’s just no going back. 

_It’s a good job you’re mad then, right?_

You could hear music it was quiet and haunting but also beautiful. It had to be coming from nearby you hesitantly walk down the hallway trusting your ears. The more you walked the louder the music became, and the louder the music became the more confident your footsteps became. The trust in your own senses landed you right outside of a beautifully polished oak door. 

The wood was dark and carved onto the front in beautiful curly script was the name of the room ‘ _Ballroom_ ’ you hadn’t seen this room before. You hadn’t even stumbled upon it until now and yet you were sure the haunting melody was resounding from within. You gently touch the golden handle unsure of whether or not you should be here. 

If it were off-limits then surely Charlie would have mentioned it, right? Then why did you feel so nervous? The truth is you already knew why you felt nervous, and you should really just turn away now and go back to your room. Because you knew of only one demon that could possibly play a tune as scarily beautiful as that on a piano. 

You gently push the door open the room was huge, much bigger than the Library, there were tables and chairs pushed away at the far end making room on the polished yet dusty floor. The windows in the room went from floor to ceiling. And the drapes that accompanied them danced lightly in an unfelt breeze. 

But directly in front of you was a grand piano, it too was dusty and seemed mostly unused except for right now. Alastor was sat on the red velvet padded stool, his jacket had been discarded, his monocle was missing, and his hands were flying over the ivory keys with precision and grace. _Showing off_. 

You knew that he’d heard you enter because his ears were pivoted toward you “you’re awake?” He asks simply...well no shit sherlock, you think unless you’re still dreaming which could be a possibility that you hadn’t quite considered after all you had been having multiple unpleasant dreams of the same demon why should this be any different. 

“I couldn’t sleep” you reply walking in your eyes shift about the room, it was beautiful and you had no doubt it would be used at some point in the future if you’re not dreaming that is, so hopefully you’d be able to see it in the light. The tune changes into something lighter and more pleasant. Your eyes shoot back to him. 

He hasn’t looked at you, to your knowledge, at all, in fact, his head hasn’t moved an inch. He’s still playing with utter skill “you too?” He replies finally meeting your gaze he’s smiling but it’s all wrong it’s tired looking but mischievous like he’s already been up to no good. Was it him that you’d followed all the way here? 

“How long have you been here?” You ask walking carefully closer to where he was sat “awhile, my dear, a long while” you squint so it wasn’t him then, though you weren’t completely ruling him out. He stops playing to look at you his gaze trails over your entire form and you’re now only too aware that you must look dishevelled and were only in your nightgown. 

You hadn’t cleaned the rest of your pyjamas yet this was all you had left, your arms unconsciously cross over your chest opposite hands gripping opposite shoulders you looked as though you were about ready to enter a coffin posed like that. You didn’t know what was worse the fact that it had thin spaghetti straps and that your chest was practically exposed. You weren’t overly busty, thank Lucifer, but you weren’t flat chested either. 

Or that that your nightgowns had to stop about midthigh-ish overwise your tail felt smothered by the material. Nevertheless, you felt overly exposed and incredibly uncomfortable under his gaze. You almost expect him to make some snarky remark to ease the tension that had flooded the room but he didn’t say a word, a light blush dusted over his cheeks as he simply went back to playing the piano. 

Playing the lighter tune “sit with me” he says shifting over ever so slightly, as to make room for you on the stool you hug your shoulders tighter and your eyes dart to the door “Uhm, I think maybe I should go back to bed, try and get some rest” you mumble trying to find an excuse to leave. 

He sighs and it’s strange you never pictured him making a sound like that he looks up at you and he’s not smiling his expression seems genuine “I don’t know what you think I’m going to do to you, my dear, but you should know that you’re wrong” he speaks clearly his nimble fingers not missing a single key even when his eyes aren’t trained on them. 

“I just thought you’d appreciate the company that is all” he finishes his full attention is back on the piano once more and now if you leave, you’d feel bad, you could almost hear Vaggie’s voice whispering in the back of your head ‘ _master manipulator._ ’ 

And you knew there was truth in those words, but if it hadn’t been made evident to you before you were very easily manipulated. Even when you could see it plainly for what it is. You slowly sinking into the space he’d left open to you and watched him play for a bit in silence. 

The music filled the darkroom, there were few candles lit here and there but it barely alleviated the gloom, shadows were appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye it was starting to drive you crazy. A single snap could be heard as the music stopped the room was filled with a multitude of lit candles basking the room in a warm glow making it look warm and inviting. 

You turn to Alastor in shock “you seemed a bit put out by the lack of light, dear” he says simply as if it were nothing you look back around the room “thank you, it looks much nicer in here when I can actually see what I’m looking at” you reply quietly there’s another snap of fingers before the music starts playing again you look down at the piano...it’s playing by itself. 

His hands are folded in his lap and yet the piano is playing a lovely tune, a tune people could dance to. Granted it would be something akin to a waltz but it was still nice to listen to. But you were just mesmerised by the keys pressing down under an invisible weight. 

The presence next to you disappears you look to your left where he had been sat and he was just gone you turn to your right there he was stood bent at the waist offering you a hand to take an impish grin on his lips. “Shall we dance, my dear?” He asks. 

You could feel the colour drain from your face you imagined that Alastor was well versed in many forms of dance considering the time he’d died in but you could barely run in a coordinated manner you’d already made a deal with Fate not to tempt it by trying to dance... _ever_ _._

“I can’t dance” you reply but against your wishes, a hand is gently lifted from one of your shoulders and you were led to the middle of the room “nonsense, darling, everyone can dance” he exclaims enthusiastically you shake your head “not me I’m the _definition_ of two left feet” you mutter looking down at your bare feet cringing at the dust the was inevitably clinging to them. 

You hear him chuckle lightly “then trust me, I shall make you a pro dancer before you leave this room” he boasts his other hand grips the only one you have left free. Placing it gently on his shoulder he then swiftly wraps it around your waist, pulling you close but not too close. 

You were damn surprised that Mr I Hate Being Touched was asking you to partake in an activity that required you to touch him. You shake your head and look back down at your feet “first of you needn’t look down so much, look at me instead, you’re going to make your neck ache like that” your head shoots up. 

“Al, I really can’t do this, I’m either going to step on your feet or, more likely, make an utter idiot of myself.” You sigh you just wanted to escape, hide, never be seen again. But here in his arms, it was evident that you weren’t going anywhere, at least not without trying he shakes his head softly “then trust me, I will lead and all you have to do is follow.” 

You bite your lip in worry “I promise, little fox, I will not let you embarrass yourself if that’s what you’re worried about” he wasn’t going to give up you groan “fine I will try.” His smile deepens and for a while, he simply teaches you how to move, where your feet should go and most importantly to look up. Apparently, it was rude not to look at your dance partner, for some fucking reason. 

But after that you seemed to get the hang of it, he looked pleased as surprised that you’d learnt so quickly “I’m starting to think you were lying to me, little fox” he implies raising an eyebrow at you, you roll your eyes “my luck will change at some point...it always does” you reply, an impending doom was weighing on your shoulders and you were sure you were about to meet it. 

“I think, you overthink everything, darling” he brushes off your comment he looks happy like he’s having fun the room was spinning as the two of you danced in circles around it taking full advantage of the space provided “It’s been a while since I’ve danced like this, I thought, perhaps, I had forgotten how” he blurts. He seems lost in memory. 

But the moment passes and his half-lidded eyes fall back on you his smile is soft and briefly his thumb brushes over the back on your hand gently “I had danced plenty when I was alive but none of my dance partners were half as interesting as you, my dear” you get this feeling that he may have been equally as charming to other women when he was alive but maybe not emotionally available. 

Or maybe none of them actually tickled his fancy, or he simply likes teasing you, all were very likely and you wouldn’t bet against any of them. You scoff before replying “yeah I’m gonna pretend I believe you” you wanted desperately to clench your hands but your right hand was currently being held by his and your left was resting gently on his shoulder he’d surely feel it. 

“You should, my dear, but I suppose me telling you to would not make you believe me” he slows you both until you stop completely. He lets go of your right hand and weaves his own into your hair lightly brushing his fingers against your scalp. There really was nowhere to escape to now. 

The arm around your waist was like a barrier “do you really think I’m as bad as they say I am?” He asks quietly your eyes widen, what? _They_? Did he mean the others at the hotel like Vaggie and Angel? Had he heard them talking about him? 

You almost don’t know how to reply “I don’t know” you reply feeling weary, you felt like you were traversing dangerous ground with him again, you’re never sure of your safety when you’re in his presence and yet he’s given you no reason to feel that way. If anything, he’s been extremely gentle with you. But the words of the others came back to haunt you constantly keeping you on edge, on guard. 

The hand in your hair moves to cup your cheek “have I given you a reason to have such obvious distrust in me?” He seemed hurt “no, but you don’t exactly make your intentions clear, Alastor” you reply carefully trying to find a way out of this situation “I can never be sure if you’re being genuine or if there’s some hidden agenda” you can feel irritation build within you. 

Why had he ruined such a calm moment with such manipulative questions? You always felt like you were on the edge of danger with him. His thumb starts to stroke your cheek in a familiar way and it annoys you more that he can calm you with such a simple motion, even when you don’t want to be calm. “But I am not the one who has given you a reason to doubt my intentions, whether they’re clear or not, I have been nothing but kind, my dear.” 

You knew he was right; you sift back through all your memories from the moment you’d entered the hotel right up till now and not once had shown or displayed any hostile behaviour toward you, though he had been a bit creepy in the beginning he still hadn’t actually made an attempt to hurt you. But again, you can hear the others whispering to you ‘that doesn’t mean he won’t, he just hasn’t, yet.’ 

You sigh, why was it so hard to think? “Darling?” no, you almost begged him internally not to call you that, you look up into his red eyes he was much closer than he was before, when had that happened? It’s quiet. The hand around your waist had somehow found its way up your spine and tangled into your hair at the back of your neck. The other was still caressing your cheek. 

He was so tall compared to you, you had to cling to his shoulders so you wouldn’t lose your balance you were almost bent in half against him. His nose just barely brushed the tip of your own, his eyes were half-lidded before he spoke again “maybe we should go back to our respective rooms now, and get some rest” he whispers breathlessly. You swallow thickly once more. 

You’re unable to speak so you simply nod and, in an instant, he lets you go and steps back from you a few paces before clearing his throat he snaps his fingers and the music stops, as well as all the candles that had bathed the two of you in warm light vanish. You felt cold and somehow hollow. 

“I shall walk you back, my dear,” he says, he refuses to look you in the eye but he offers you his arm, you take it and begin walking back to your room. He felt warmer than he had earlier, was he just as flustered as you were? You secretly hoped so because you could have sworn, he looked as though he were about to...but there’s just no way, right? 

This _is_ Alastor after all. You resigned to knowing that you would never truly understand what’s going on in that chaotic mind of his. But you were starting to think that maybe he doesn’t know what’s going on in there either. The thought was funny, if not a little worrying. 

You arrive at your room in record time and yet you could have sworn blind that it had taken you way longer to find that room even if it was by accident. He stops, still not looking at you, he seems to have taken a keen interest in his shoes as he shuffled from one foot to the other. This was very unlike him. 

“Alastor?” You question lightly, he hums before looking you in the eye “yes, dear?” He’s trying to act natural and maybe you should let him it’s really dark in the hallway but you could see a faint blush on his cheeks and you didn’t want to make it much worse “thanks, for teaching me how to dance, it was nice” you say thinking back to it. You hadn’t had any accidences and he’d kept his promise, he didn’t let you embarrass yourself. 

“Maybe, if I spend enough time with you, time like that, it’ll settle my worries” you add feeling hopeful you see him straighten up a bit “does that mean you want to spend more time with me?” He asks that’s a dangerous question you sigh “when I get the chance sure, but remember I’m also back to helping Niffty tomorrow” he nods “we’ll find the time, dear” he lifts your right hand to his lips and kisses the back of it softly nearly making you jump “until then, goodnight, darling, pleasant dreams.” 

With that he takes very long strides down the hallway and completely disappears from your sight, you were too tired to think about it. You open the door to your room, even though you were sure you hadn’t closed it when you left earlier. You make damn sure to close it behind you and lock it. 

You practically jump into your bed, making yourself a mess of tangled sheets and limbs before drifting off once more. This time there were no dreams, just darkness, even amongst the shuffling that you heard before sleep fully claimed you. 

When you do eventually wake again daylight is streaming in through your windows and you’ve apparently woke up quite a bit later than you would have liked, you have a very quick shower, brush your teeth and shove your hair up into a messy bun. And because of the length, it actually looked quite pretty. 

You quickly dressed into something comfortable but warm, black thermal leggings, a plaid red skirt, and a tight-fitting long-sleeved red top, you had searched for the black one but couldn’t find it anywhere strangely enough. Shoving on a pair of trainers you race to the Lobby, forgetting about the trivial for a minute. 

Time seems to slow down a bit as your about to reach the stairs you can see down the opposite corridor Alastor is rushing down it, looking tardy, his gaze lifts to meet yours and you’re sure that you see relief flash through his eyes. He gives you a genuine smile and you grin back at him. You guess you’re not the only one who slept in. 

You meet each other in the middle at the top of the Lobby stairs everybody else is already there but at that moment it didn’t matter “Good afternoon, my dear, I trust you slept better the second time round?” He asks expectantly you nod “I did, thank you, I hope you slept well, too, Al” you reply softly he nods “yes, better than I have in a while.” 

He offers you his arm much like he had last night and you take it. He walks you down the stairs in silence, until he pauses halfway down. You look up at him but his eyes aren’t on you they’re on the rest of the demons in the room. You follow his gaze to see them all staring at the both of you with wide eyes. 

You glance back up at Alastor and catch his eye he smiles down at before addressing the room “my it’s awfully quiet in here!” He exclaims walking you the rest of the way down the stairs Vaggie could not glare any harder at him. Angel looked mildly concerned but mostly uninterested. Husk looked damn well furious. 

“Hey, kid, you alright?” He asked in his usual gruff voice you nod “yeah I’m fine” you reply Angel laughs “ya must have gotten up to some interesting activities last night considering you both got up late today” he laughs before sending you a cheeky wink “bravo, toots, didn’t think anyone would get Al to loosen up” You choke on air. That comment didn’t seem to sit well with a few people in the room one them being Husk he looked absolutely enraged at the thought. 

Choking on air seemed to be a talent you’re sure only you possess Alastor, seems to just stop moving, he stops breathing, stops blinking his entire body is stiff. “Damn Angel not everyone is up to such... _activities_!” You yell indignantly, unlinking your arm from Alastor’s before anyone else starts to get the wrong idea. 

He smooths himself over as if anything were out of place but in actuality it was fine. He sends Angel an irritated smile “oh Angel you’re such a character!” He laughs it’s fake and the static is back in full effect. But it didn’t bother you like it had before it had been a while since you had sensed it. 

Vaggie catches your eye and with a quick jut of her head signals that she needs to talk to you, in private. You had this strange feeling you were in for an earful you just barely nod before you start to follow her down a hallway. She leads you into a cramped room it's packed to the ceiling with furniture and gaudy decoration coated in thick dust. 

She turns to you so quickly you’re surprised she doesn’t get whiplash; her arms are crossed; she’s leaning on one hip and she’s thrumming her fingers against her arm “what are you doing?!” She exclaims in a burst; you can’t tell if she’s angry or worried, probably a bit of both. You shake your head in confusion. 

“I don’t understand” you reply which seems to shock her she scoffs “uh does my eye deceive me or did I not just see you walking down the lobby stairs arm in arm with ALASTOR!?” She yells raking her hands violently through her long silvery tresses. You sigh but a soft smile graces your features. 

“Vaggie trust me when I tell you I’m fine and if at any point I start to feel unsafe I promise to come running into your arms wailing indignantly for you to be my saviour, okay?” You assure her gently; you understood that she was worried, but you had to get to know Alastor yourself otherwise you might never fully understand what to look out for if anything. 

She lets out a resounding sigh but returns your smile “okay, you better, and if I’m not available then ask Charlie or Husk or even Angel, anything’s better than nothing” you nod and promise that you will. You give her a tight hug and she for once returns it with equal tightness. “Can we please leave this musty cupboard now?” 

You both laugh as you walk back into the Lobby it’s awkward when you run into Alastor receiving his own lecture by a rather furious looking Husk and a sheepish Charlie trying to defuse the situation you couldn’t hear what was being said but you guessed by Husk’s expression that he was using a lot of profanity. 

You shoot Vaggie a look, one that she shares, you were both fed up with leaving a room and then coming back to see that drama has broken out Angel was nowhere to be seen you assumed he’d, maybe, headed to his room but you’d have to ask to know for sure. But in order for that to happen, you’d have to end this weird-ass one-sided argument. 

“Hey, we’re back!” You announce loudly hoping your arrival would spark the end of their conversation Husk looks between you and Vaggie for a minute before storming back behind the bar grumbling about something or other. Charlie stutters for a moment before turning to Alastor “hey, Al, you mind if I chat to you about something?” She asks looking awfully shifty. 

He nods while giving one of his usual verbal responses you call out to her before she can rush off completely “hey Charlie where did Angel go?” You ask tentatively she smiles “he went out, he should be back later though” she replies before hurrying on her way. Vaggie slowly wanders into your field of view “I best get back to work, don’t be afraid to come to find me if you need to.” 

And with that she was gone too Husk was stood drinking by the bar he looked as though steam was about to start blowing from his ears “Husk?” You call out gently you receive a non-committal grunt in response you walk up to the bar and grab one of his clawed hands turning it over and tracing the lines on his palm he seemed to settle for a minute “what’s with you and Sir Smiles A Lot?” He asks sounding bitter you're taken aback by his question and the tone he’d asked it in. 

It almost sounded like he was jealous...oh god!? Was he jealous?! No way, right!? The thought made you all warm inside you let a half-laugh before replying “nothing I’m just trying to get along with you all, which is quite a difficult task I didn’t mean for it to look the way that it did, honestly and if you’re up for it I’d like to spend more time with you at some point today, okay?” You ask hoping this would cheer him up a bit. 

You can faintly see his cheeks turning red under his fur as he nods silently you smile leaning over the bar top to kiss his cheek feeling how warm it was beneath your soft lips you pull back to see him blushing even harder and his eyes were as wide as saucers it was funny and a little adorable it made you want to do it again. 

But, alas, you’re already swooped up in Niffty’s arms before you get the chance to repeat the action, she quickly places you back on your feet again “Oh boy am I glad to see you! Are you ready to get back to work!? We’re decorating some of the downstairs rooms today!” She rushes in a blur. 

You smile fondly at her; you’d missed this yesterday “lead the way!” You reply equally as excited and you follow her as she scampers down one of the hallways. You hoped this would be an uneventful day, filled with painting and redecorating because that’s exactly what you needed right now. 

_But you can’t always get what you want, and something tells you today will be no exception._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you enjoy another Chapter with a more tender Alastor, thanks for reading as always all comments are greatly appreciated and I'll see you with the next one! Thanks again!


	11. Why Val No Listen?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well after jinxing it you get your ass absolutely handed to you by Val, you suppose you did annoy him a little too much. All of which prompts Alastor to seek out a friend in the hopes of receiving some guidance on the subject of you...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Editing📢 This chapter has been slightly edited which is why it may seem different!

You and Niffty had been painting for hours, you’d occasionally make conversation with her and she would be more than happy to participate. The room was to be painted white first before adding any colour as Charlie had yet to decide if she wanted to do anything creative with the downstairs rooms. But even just doing the base coat was relaxing. 

It felt a little familiar, not so much painting the wall but painting, in general, felt familiar to you. It made you think that perhaps you were a bit of a creative person when you were alive, however, you couldn’t really remember that. There were many small details about your life that you couldn’t remember properly, if at all. Which made you think that maybe the truly traumatic events in your life seem so fresh in your memory _because_ they were traumatic. 

Regardless, you and Niffty had been painting a while and the paint fumes were starting to make you feel a little loopy. You turn to Niffty who’s painting sporadically with no sense of direction you smile and place your paintbrush on the lid of the paint pot. “Hey I’m gonna take a little break, it’s getting hard to breath in here” you laugh looking around that the mess of the room, hopefully, it would look better when there weren’t multiple things everywhere. 

She gives you a quick nod “okay, go get something to eat you look famished and I don’t need you passing out on me” she replies while shaking her paintbrush at you consequentially getting paint everywhere, it’s a good job you thought to put a plastic covering on the floor before you started, you think in bemusement. 

You nod while leaving but offer no verbal reply you walk a short distance down a messy hallway back toward the lobby, on your left was the kitchen, the lobby was deserted save for Husk stood behind the bar for once he’s not drinking, he’s sleeping, heavily, mind you. You assume he hadn’t slept well or maybe he’d finally drank himself into a coma, both were extremely likely scenarios. 

You carefully tiptoe to the kitchen; the scene would probably look comical to an outsider. You pick out a breakfast bar and practically cram it into your mouth you wash it down with a glass of water and carefully leave the kitchen trying to make as little noise as demonly possible. You catch Angel sneaking in through the hotel doors. 

You snicker quietly, the both of you creeping around looked fucking ridiculous and yet you weren’t sure how easy it would be to wake Husk. “Psst!” You call out to Angel making a rather loud sound Husk’s snoring increases in volume both you and Angel freeze mid-step. Angel glances at Husk before his eyes finally land on you, he’s grinning from ear to ear. 

“What!” He whisper-yells back, the same reaction from Husk had you both panicking thinking you might wake him you grimace his snoring is practically booming in your head. You’re about to reply when Angel holds up a single finger telling you to wait, he quickly tiptoes his way over to you. He then nods to you as if telling you that you can talk now, you’re both slightly bent over stood on your tiptoes looking like cartoon characters in an episode of Scooby-doo. 

“Where were you?” You ask curiously he fluffs up his chest and fixes his hair, his eyes flash over to Husk as if making sure he’s really asleep before he replies “working” he says simply it takes you a minute before you grimace again “oh” is the only reply you can manage, you notice a bag of white powder not so well concealed in his fluffed cleavage. 

You hear him quietly clearing his throat you look back up at him, his eyes have this amused shine to them “my eyes are up here, babe” he says with a quiet laugh. You roll your eyes with a grin “I thought doing drugs in this hotel was strictly prohibited?” You whisper back he nods “yeah so be cool and don’t tell Vags’” he says hurriedly before scampering upstairs and out of sight. 

You let out a breath and shake your head, you didn’t know what life at the hotel would be like without him and now you simply couldn’t imagine it. Not even if you wanted to, which you didn’t. You walk back to the room and continue helping Niffty for a few hours. 

Alastor was sat in the Library reading the book he didn’t get to finish yesterday, sat in his usual pose, legs crossed at the knee back straight, his focus had been entirely on his book until he heard your laugher reverberating downstairs, it was musical. It was difficult for him not to hear every sound you made; it was almost like he’d tuned into you. 

It had made things increasingly confusing for him, he had yet to find answers, he thought perhaps he ought to ask Rosie or maybe Lucifer as he was well versed in all things Hell related. However, for now, he would simply bask in the warm feeling the sound of your laughter gave him, he wasn’t quite sure when he had started thinking so fondly of you but he knew it couldn’t have been too long ago now. 

Your laughter died down and soon enough he had taken to concentrating on his book once more, a considerable amount of time ticked by on the old grandfather clock sat directly opposite him before he heard the loud crash quake its way through the hotel causing it to rattle. He put his book down and for a moment all he could hear was quiet chatter. 

A voice that sounded familiar to him and your own, he listened a little longer until he heard Husker shouting, the cat demon sounded furious. He quickly got up from his seat and rushed from the Library all the way out to the Lobby, a room that seemed to have now attracted a tone of attention and there you were, being held up off your feet by your throat looking bruised and bloody. 

_The sight absolutely infuriated him._

**Not mere minutes before...**

Both you and Niffty had finished the room and were stood admiring your handy-work you were thrilled to be back to work again. The room looked much lighter and airier now. You turn to Niffty “I’d say that was a job well done, hey why don’t you and I go and have a drink before continuing with the next room?” 

She nodded enthusiastically “you go ahead and wait for me at Husk’s bar, I’m gonna quickly move this equipment into the next room, I won’t be two ticks,” she says quickly, shooing you out, you laugh. You were on your way to the Lobby when you’d heard the loud crash, you start rushing toward the Lobby only too aware that Husk is the only one in there and the last you saw him he was flat out asleep. 

When you arrive, Husk is stood wide awake behind the bar glaring at a very pimp looking moth demon, but unlike Vaggie his skin has a muted blue tint to it, he’s much taller than you are, in fact, you could even go as far as to say he was taller than Alastor, his height could rival that of Angel's. His eyes were almost glowing red covered by pink and gold heart-shaped glasses, his coat was mainly red but... 

Yuck, there was white, heart dotted fur lining the collar and plain white fur lining the cuffs. The fur that led down from the collar and lined the bottom appeared to have some kind of zebra print on it. Overall tacky looking, kinda like those gross ass gold glass roses. _Then it hits you..._

_This must be Val..._

And if that is _Val_ then he must be looking for _Angel..._ oh shit. You share an uncertain look with Husk, it looks like he knows the guy but it doesn’t look as though he liked him. The pure distaste on his face told you that. “You, barkeep, have you seen Angel Dust come by here!?” Val practically shouts, his voice is so deep it booms around the room. 

Internal panic is setting in, you were a horrible liar, if he asks you...you’re fucked, because there is no way you’re telling him the truth, not now, not ever. You’d never rat out Angel to a creep like him. “Does it fucking look like I’ve seen that freak?!” Husk retaliates in-kind he doesn’t like to be yelled at for no reason, understandably so. 

Val turns on you and you can feel the colour evacuate from your cheeks and your blood run cold you stiffen up. A cruel smile parts his lips to reveal sharp teeth much like Alastor’s but less on the yellow side. You briefly wondered why his teeth were that colour until your brain forces you back into reality. Now is so not the time. 

“You! Have you seen Angel Dust around here!?” He shouts as if he’s so far away but he’s not, as this point, he’s just deafening you on purpose. You refrain from rolling your eyes, the struggle is all too real, and reply quietly “no I haven’t” your voice wobbles slightly you try to act natural but everything you do suddenly seems un-natural under his steely gaze. 

He struts up to you and takes a deep breath in releasing it out his mouth, his breath smells like mothballs and it takes every restraint you have not to gag there and then. You understood fully why Angel hated this guy, even if it was for a different reason entirely. You wouldn’t be able to kiss anyone with breath like that. 

“Are you sure? I can smell your fear, ya know?” He asks threateningly, your only defence was humour but you had a feeling it would also get your ass kicked, but you had a feeling that would happen anyway. So why the fuck not? “That’s a weird ability to have” you mumble and just as you predicted the minute, _the actual minute_ , the words left your lips you had been thrown across the room. 

Your body crashes into a paint that had been hung up completely ruining it, the collide was so hard it had knocked the air right out of you, you coughed and gasped before spluttering up blood, _ah internal bleeding thou art a heartless bitch!_

You shake your head dizzily, gazing back up at Val he looked furious “do you have any idea who I am you little bitch!?” He screamed indignantly you just couldn’t stop running your mouth “no should I?” In an instant, he was kicking the afterlife from your stomach making you cough up more blood. You should have probably spat it out but that meant making a mess, something you weren’t overly excited to do. 

So, you swallowed it, blegh, you thought. “You stupid bitch, you should learn to keep your mouth shut, especially around me, if you know what’s good for you!” This guy had no volume dial you huff attempting to get up “some of us should keep our mouths shut all together” you mumble again. A foot forces you back down and that’s when Husk intervenes, as funny as he thought you were, he could see you were about to get yourself into real trouble. 

“Get the fuck off of her, you ass, she answered your stupid question what more do you want?” He shouts gruffly sparing you a concerned glance, you offer a slightly dazed yet cocky smile a hand curls around your throat and suddenly you’re off the floor pinned to the wall. By one wimpy looking black hand. 

You’re still smiling “I want an apology for her rude behaviour and the truth! She’s seen Angel and I just know it!” He screams again, he looked ever so much like a pouty child when they didn’t get what they wanted, or in this case, couldn’t' find their favourite toy. You sigh loudly, you seem to have attracted a lot of attention, you could see the others stood at the top of the stairs from the corner of your eye. 

You could also tell that Angel was hiding around one of the corners of one of the hallways, of which one you weren’t sure. You roll your eyes “Look all I’m sorry for is the fact that your breath smells like mothballs and I have to smell it, yo you need a damn tic tac or a breath mint or something jeez that stinks” your head is slammed violently into the wall, making a sickening cracking sound. 

Now that one hurt! The rest you could deal with but you could feel blood oozing from your head you groan in pain for a minute trying to gain your wits again. You felt dizzy and if anything, a little loopy from the head wound. “Look I told you I haven't seen Angel at all today, he went out earlier and he hasn’t come back yet, I bet he won’t even come back tonight.” 

You pause to take a breath and try to think clearly again which was now becoming a difficult task what with the lack of oxygen and rapidly losing blood “so why don’t you take a fucking chill pill, and maybe a breath mint, and try asking elsewhere?” You suggest in a sarcastic manner another loud _fwump_ echo's around the room. 

Your skull felt thoroughly beaten but he had finally let you go, you slid down the wall in a daze leaving a bloody trail on the old wallpaper, you could feel your eyes rolling but you wouldn’t let him see you feeling as though you’d been beaten you grin revealing bloody teeth, “feel better now princess?” 

You guess he looked as though he were about to wail on you, but a voice cuts through the tension angry and authoritative “Enough! Valentino enough! You leave her alone right now! Everything she told you is the truth-!” Charlie, looking positively terrifying, all demonic like and angry. He looked startled to see both her and Alastor stood on the lobby stairs. 

“- You have officially overstayed you welcome, now get out!” She screams you’ve never seen Charlie like this, you take it neither had Vaggie judging by the shocked yet proud look she was giving her. He looked as though he were about to retaliate but she wasn’t the only one looking positively scary so was Alastor the static in the air was thick and menacing and all aimed toward Val. 

He leaves, not uttering a single word yet you could still feel him fuming even beyond the hotel doors, the minute he leaves, you use the wall behind you as leverage to get to your feet. “Kid!?” You look up at Husk, he’s rushing over to you in a blind panic cupping both sides of your face with his soft hands you smile dazedly he quirks an eyebrow at you “are you in the habit of infuriating overlords?” He asks checking you over at the extent of your injuries one of his hands moves to cup the back of your head causing you to hiss out in pain. 

You bark out laughter, laughter so loud it hurts your own head. You let out a quiet grunt but smile wide “not particularly” you reply your teeth and mouth felt thick with blood, you lean your head back against his hand feeling more blood oozing out into his palm you felt bad for bleeding on him, that blood felt sticky and slick in your hair. You close your eyes and call out “Angel, it’s okay he’s gone now.” 

When you open your eyes and look at the stairs when you see him, he looks horrified “you lied for me?” He asks looking confused and shocked you nod once not really wanting to do it again. “Well, what was I supposed to do? Say ‘oh yeah he’s in his room want me to go get him?’ Hell fucking no” you say as if it were so obvious. 

You groan in pain and push of the wall swaying dangerously Husk helps by pulling you to your feet you have to lean against him, your balance is all off. “What were you thinking?! Antagonizing him like that!?” Vaggie yells worriedly in seconds her arms are wrapped around you. Your head hurt so much “can we lower the volume a few decibels please?” You beg quietly, you were trying so hard not to just slump the rest on your weight onto poor Husk who looked incredibly uncomfortable being the third wheel of your hug with Vaggie. 

When she pulls away her embrace is immediately replaced by Charlie, who was looking far more like her usual self now, “Vaggie’s right you know? You could have gotten seriously hurt!” She exclaims you look at her in disbelief, Husk grunts “what? So, she looks completely unharmed to you?” He mutters under his breath she looks as though she were about to apologize and start fussing over you but you just shake your head and smile. 

“He’s kidding-” You reply quickly while giving him a subtle jab in the ribs before continuing “-of course, it could have been worse, but I’m definitely not in any hurry to just let someone kick my ass anymore” she gives you a strange look but doesn’t question it. You could feel bruises starting to form, you snicker “well that guy might look like a sissy but he can sure hit hard” you mention off handily. You look up at Husk and grin as a slow blush starts to spread over his cheeks you wrap your arms around his shoulder and bat your eyelashes at him “does this earn me a drink!?” 

He snickers “how hard did he hit your head off that wall?” He huffs while slowly leading you over to the bar you pout at him “pretty hard actually-” you pause and suddenly an evil thought strikes you smirk looking up at him with an evil look in your eyes, you can practically see him sweating nervously “what?” He finally questions you make your best puppy dog face and say “kiss it better?” The result makes you squeal with laughter he basically chokes on air and this time his fur does not provide him any privacy. 

A deep red blush spreads like wildfire from his cheeks all the way down his neck his eyes are wide and he doesn’t say a word you can’t tell if you’ve shocked him or if he just didn’t know how to respond his mouth opens and closes a few times before he eventually gives up his beautiful orange eyes glance about the room at all of the others that you were choosing to ignore, you had to or you’d blush too, before looking back into your eyes. 

His gaze turns soft and makes your insides feel as though they were turning into a puddle of goo he was still blushing and you could almost see the gears turning in his head as he thought before his hands suddenly cupped your cheeks again and your surprise is instant as he dips down to lick your forehead. And that’s when it hits you, cats lick their owners and that’s them basically giving them kisses, your blush spreads across your face and you completely shut down. 

The only thing you can hear is Charlie squealing in the background and you could swear you’d heard Vaggie threatening Husk if he were to ever hurt you. The static in the air felt harsh against your skin like pins and needles but literally all over your body, you could faintly hear Husk yelling at a presence behind you but you were too busy battling with internal feelings and coming to the realization that maybe, just maybe, Charlie had been right about him. 

Half an hour later you’re all cleaned up, you’ve had a shower, Alastor has bandaged most of your wounds while Vaggie stood watch. That was a whole other irritating experience having Alastor tutting over you, you don’t think you’ve ever heard anyone tut so much human or otherwise. And definitely not as much as this man had in the past five minutes, he’d been sat next to you. 

“Alright, Al, I get it you’re disappointed, but can you stop with the constant tutting holy crap!” You laugh he sends you a disapproving look “you’re very lucky he didn’t do a lot worse, and to you, he could have, little fox” he warned, you roll your eyes “yeah that’s great, no really I’m impressed” you hear Husker snickering behind the bar “are you really so flippant about you own safety!” Alastor yells. 

His demeanour had changed he wasn’t smiling he looked concerned, who the fuck gave him the right? “Woah, hey! If you want to jump on the concerned bandwagon that literally everyone else was on, _before you_ , then, by all means, go ahead but I did not see you jumping in at any point to save me, so don’t go getting all high and mighty on me!” You yell back. 

“You wanna suddenly care about me? Go ahead bring it on! But don’t act like you care about me and then become a fucking ghost when I get my ass kicked” you down the shot of what tasted like tequila but tasted oddly of cinnamon “pretending you care is not how it works Alastor, I got my ass kicked _because_ I care about Angel, Charlie and Husk stepped in _because_ they care about me, what did you do?” You ask looking him in eye he stops. 

His mouth opens and closes as though he were lost for words you nod “get back to me when you come up with a good answer I’ll be waiting” you mutter before walking off up to Angel’s room, where he had offered you sanctuary, a place where Alastor most certainly wouldn’t enter. You knock on the door and it opens immediately after revealing the tall arachnid. 

“Can I hang out in here for a bit?” You ask rubbing your arm anxiously, he steps aside and lets you in, you sit on the floor and groan again. Your head was still throbbing despite the fact it had been wrapped up in gauze. Your legs lay sprawled out in front of you, you were so tired. Tired of fucked up days, tired of Alastor, tired of Hell, just tired. 

Angel drops to sit down next to you with a thump, “that was reckless what you did for me” he says out of nowhere, you shrug “guess I’m a reckless kinda gal” you reply looking him in the eye, “besides that guy was a fucking creep, I mean did you see what he was wearing!?” Angel laughs loudly. 

That’s what you wanted, you just wanted to laugh, everyone was so serious that they couldn’t see the funny side in all of this, sure you were hurt but now you had an epic story to embellish and tell to anyone you wanted. “Yeah, it is awfully tacky looking” he replies lost in thought a smile permanently spread across his face. 

You sit up straight in disbelief “Tacky! That outfit was downright out of date! Where did he find it my great grandmothers' closet! Damn! Last century called they want their hideous coat back!” Angel was in absolute stitches, a complete mess of giggles next to you. You laugh along with him “did he find it in a dumpster because no shop in their right mind would sell that to anyone!” He exclaims joining in. 

And for a few hours you both sit, taking the absolute piss out of Valentino’s pimp coat, and on occasion his glasses. Blissfully unaware of Alastor leaving the hotel, looking as though he were on a mission. And he was, a mission to find Lucifer after his fight with you he felt very confused and perhaps a little upset that you had gotten angry with him. 

He needed someone to explain these strange feelings to him lest he go insane from the not knowing. Demons everywhere jumped to get out of his way and he stalked the common sidewalks with purpose all while being lost in thought, he and Lucifer had gotten on very well, since their very first meeting. They were both quite alike in some ways, eccentric and menacing with a dark sense of humour. And a soft spot for ‘dad jokes’ of course. 

He arrives at Lucifer’s home and rings the rather obnoxious doorbell, it chimes through the entire mansion, Alastor brushes himself down just in time for the door to open he puts on a strained smile, his chest was hurting for the first time in years and he was worried. Lucifer smiles at him mischievously “such an unexpected honour! Alastor, my friend come in!” He says theatrically, needless to say, he knows something is wrong when Alastor doesn’t respond with the same energy. 

Instead, he glances behind him in the direction of the hotel as if somehow, you’d be there but, of course, you weren’t. “What’s wrong, Al? You look put out, and dare I say it a little melancholy!” Lucifer asks shutting the door after him blocking his view down the street instead replacing it with a pearly white stained-glass door. 

Alastor looks at him and his smile drops “something's wrong with me and I don’t know what it is.” His eyebrows pinch together he grits his teeth together “I need advice” he mutters darkly, hating having to admit that he needs help with anything. He was usually such a patient man but he needed answers now, the pain in his chest was becoming too much to bear. 

He’d never felt anything like it in all his years Lucifer drops his grin and squints his eyes “about what, Alastor?” He shifts from one foot to another and suddenly a lightbulb switches on in Lucifer’s head “ah I’ve seen that look before, pain-stricken, confused, eyes constantly darting to some unknown force” He smirks. 

Alastor’s eyes meet his, he hasn’t even said anything yet and yet he’d said that with such conviction his curiosity was peaked “you have?” He asks simply Lucifer nods “of course I have why I’ve felt it myself!” He exclaims his eyes wander over to Lilith perched gracefully on the embroidered sofa. 

Alastor pulled a more confused face as he turned to Lucifer who simply returned his confused expression with a knowing smile realization started to dawn on Alastor his eyes widened “I think we need to teach you a bit more about your predicament Alastor.” 

_He had never wanted to leave a situation so badly in all his afterlife..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, chapter update is a day late but I was still figuring out how to write the fight scene because it needed to happen for future things... Anyway, I hope you still enjoyed it all comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and I'll see you with the next one! (Edit: I have made a correction to Val's height as I had the description slightly wrong thanks a bunch to the lovely commenter who pointed it out) :)


	12. Keeping Our Distance...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a rough morning, you finish having a laugh with Angel and go back to helping Niffty decorating turns into a long list of chores, starting with cleaning Alastor's room where you find out exactly how you'd gotten sick a few days ago...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢Editing📢 This Chapter has been edited and therefore may read differently.

The minute Alastor had left Charlie and Vaggie had gone upstairs to take a much-needed break, Husk turned to Niffty “Hey Niffty” he calls out catching the tiny cyclone’s attention she bounds up to him behind the bar his eyes dart about the lobby to ensure they were alone before looking back into her single large eye “I think I have an idea as to why she got sick” he announces quietly Niffty's eye couldn’t get any wider, she had been suspicious herself but she hadn’t thought anything of it recently especially since you were well now, your name falls from her lips in question and he nods. 

“How?” She exclaims he hurriedly places a single clawed hand over her mouth he sighs “I think Alastor might have poisoned her food the night before” Niffty’s face turns grave as she purses her lips together “that’s quite the accusation, how do you planning to prove it?” She questions he sends another quick glance around the lobby before pulling out a piece of paper it dropped to the floor and then some, Niffty recognized it. 

It was the list of chores he’d been taking note of for her and you to do next month it wasn’t ready yet “where did you get that?” She asked worriedly if Alastor knew that Husk had gone into his private space who knows what would happen! “I stole it from Alastor’s room, read it properly” He rushes she frowns and read through the list it was full of basic chores but there’s one thing on there that Alastor would never ask them to do “clean his room! Are you crazy!?” She whisper-yells, even she wasn’t stupid enough or curious enough to go into his room! 

“Think about it Niffty if I’m right then where else would he hide the evidence?” Husk says and, of course, he’s got a point because he dislikes anyone going in there unless he explicitly allows it then it’s obviously the perfect place to hide his sabotage. She didn’t know how she felt about this plan he hadn’t even asked her yet and she already knew exactly what he was going to ask of her. 

“Niffty I know that if there’s nothing in there we could get into trouble for this, but if we don’t and it turns out that he really was the reason she’d gotten so sick then he’ll get away with that and more because we’ll always be too afraid to find out the truth, I promised her that I’d protect her and I’ll be double damned if I break that promise!” He asserts Niffty peers up at him through her thick eyelashes “you really care about her, don’t you?” She replies softly he nods looking down at the bar top “yeah I do” he mumbles. She looks down at the list in her hands she was willing to do this for you “Okay let’s do it today, I’m sure it’ll be a while before he comes back.” They share a determined look before she takes the list and ambles down the hallway getting back to work. 

You’d been sat in Angel’s room for hours, and you had to admit you’d had more fun with him in the past four hours than you had in your entire time alive, Angel was probably one of the funniest people you knew and honestly, you feel you’d gotten much closer as time went on. You eventually left his room and, in the hallway, out the window you could see the sky darkening outside. 

You rush back down to the Lobby you’d been upstairs with Angel for so long you’d completely forgotten about helping Niffty, poor thing must think that you’re going to abandon her every time you start working. You spot Husk lounging on the sofa for once he looks relaxed, you’re not sure that you’ve ever seen him look so comfortable. In fact, it was such a surprise that you hadn’t noticed at first but now that you looked on with a more scrutinizing gaze, feeling sure that he was pulling some kind of prank on you, it’s then you notice that he’s actually sleeping. 

One of his legs is propped up and the other is hanging off the edge of the sofa one of his rather fluffy arms is bent resting over his eyes, and the other is loosely hanging onto an empty beer bottle also hanging over the edge of the sofa, the fireplace just opposite him housed a dimming flame. You make your way over to him after grabbing a ragged blanket he kept behind the bar. 

You drape the tattered blanket over his sleeping form, he was snoring heavily and his breath reeked of alcohol you shake your head with an amused smile making sure he was covered by the blanket, he shuffles around for a minute and you freeze thinking you’d woken him but when he doesn’t open his eyes you breathe a sigh of relief. You quickly put another piece of wood into the fireplace to revive the dying flame being careful to dodge the rest of Husk’s empty beer bottles that were strewn around the surrounding area. 

You pick up the glass bottle bin from behind the bar and start picking up the bottles he’d demolished, tidying up after his mess, you gently take the last bottle from his loose grip and watch him stir once more before settling again, you could almost bet that an earthquake wouldn’t wake him. You crouch down by his side and snicker to yourself quietly. 

You softly scratch behind one of his ears and whisper “you need to stop drinking so much, you’re gonna drink yourself into a coma one of these days I swear” he lets out a loud rumbling purr but doesn’t wake, the sound startles you a little and you have to hold back a laugh when you realise that he probably doesn’t get his ears scratched very often. 

You eventually stand back up, taking the half-filled bin back behind the bar with another glance back over at Husk, to see you if you’d missed anything, you nod to yourself while silently patting yourself on the back for a job well done. Niffty would be proud that you’d done such cleaning without having to be asked. Speaking of, you wander back down to the rooms you’d meant to be decorating with her. 

You slowly swing open the door to reveal that the room was already finished, in fact, Niffty seemed to be putting a lot of the equipment away “hey, I’m sorry I almost forgot about all this, need some help with that?” You ask seeing her struggle to move a ladder that was practically five times bigger than her, she gives you this big silly smile and nods “oh yes please, and don’t worry about it! You had Valentino to deal with today I was ready to exempt you from work for the rest of the week!” 

You shake your head, honestly, an entire week, did you really look that fragile to them? You shrug the thought off, they were just worried about you, you knew you’d probably react in exactly the same way...maybe even worse, you think letting out a quiet laugh. You take the ladders from her hands and walk them out into the corridor and back into the cupboard they came from. 

Once you and Niffty had the room cleared, you look back to her “you know we never got to share that drink earlier, is now a good time for you?” You ask. You wanted to spend more time with her, she seems to jump for joy at the suggestion “Oh definitely! I’d love to have a drink now, that was so much hard work and we’re not even close to finishing our list of chores today!” 

You sigh loudly, you have this distinct feeling that maybe Alastor had given her an extra-long list today you walk her back out to the Lobby and round the bar standing behind it you familiarize yourself with the layout. This is what Husk looked at every day? It was dusty and alcohol-soaked, cobwebs were forming in the dark unseen corners of the bar. 

Most of what would be un-reachable to him was filthy and yet you’re sure that you or Niffty would have been able to clean it in a heartbeat, you wonder why he hadn’t asked you guys to help him with it? You decide to open up two cheap beer’s knowing that Husk would probably miss those much less than the ‘good stuff’ as he so lovingly calls it. 

And while you’re both drinking you take out a cleaning cloth and start wiping down the bar, clearing away the dust, and past spillages, breaking up cobwebs and cleaning them away. Honestly, there was so much dust it had you on the verge of sneezing the whole time you were cleaning. Niffty was watching on in amusement “you know, if someone told me I’d be working at this hotel with someone who was just as much a clean freak as I am, I’d have asked them when I start!” 

You giggle “I’m not usually this bad, I dunno what’s wrong with me, some days I dread doing this, ya know cause the hotels so big, but then there are days like today when I just can’t bear to look at all this fucking dust!” You exclaim as you find even more dust under the bar top, it was almost never-ending. Niffty grins nodding to you “Yep, it’s gonna be like that for a while, especially if Mister Alastor keeps giving us these long lists on the daily” she replies pulling out a piece of folded paper. 

You watch as she unfolds it and starts listing off things that you both have left today and as hefty as it sounds, it still sounds achievable thinking that she was finished you shrug “no biggie we’ll get that done today, we’ve been given longer lists than that Niffty” you point out, looking at the small piece of paper in her hands. She raises her eyebrow at you and chews her lip for a second. 

Then she lets go on one corner of the piece of paper, and suddenly it’s unfolding all by itself and it doesn’t stop until it hits the floor, now had your jaw not been attached firmly to your face you’re sure it would have joined it, however, as it is it simply hangs open in full-blown shock instead “And this needs to be done...today” she says slowly you shake your head with determination and say with conviction “that’s ridiculous, nobody would be able to get all of that done in one day!” 

You snatch the long piece of paper from her hand and start reading, there were things listed on here that simply didn’t need to be done! Oh, hell no! " _We_ have to clean _his_ room?!” You fume “are you kidding me! He can’t do that himself?” You’re practically screaming at this point, loud snoring breaks you from your current annoyance, you cringe as you watch Husk shuffle around on the sofa. 

Don’t wake up, please, don’t wake up! You beg mentally and breathe a sigh of relief when he finally settles back down again your eyes fix onto Niffty once more “yes, but it’s Alastor what do you expect?” She questions as if it were so logical “I expect better of a man of such...calibre” You hesitate Niffty nearly laughs “he’s a man from an old-time, much like I am a woman from an old-time. This was expected of women back then” she shakes her head though. 

“Not that I agree with it, in my personal opinion, cleaning is a man's job” she whispers as if sharing some big secret, you smirk and nod “you know what? I totally agree” you reply and the both of you giggle finishing off your drinks you hurriedly throw the empty bottles into the bin you’d used a little earlier. You exit from behind the bar and place your hands on your hips. 

“Well, I’d rather get his stupid room over and done with, wouldn’t you?” You ask with a smug smile she nods and leads the way. Apparently, Alastor’s room was near the top of the hotel just three floors below the very last by the time you and Niffty had finished climbing all the stairs to get there, you’re thinking about telling him to clean his own room from now on, or move down a few floors. 

You reach the top of the staircase and you're panting and kinda sweaty, yuck, you pull a disgusted face “hah, why...the hell...is-is he so damn far up!” You finally yell after getting your breath back. Damn! Did this guy think he was so fucking important he had to be this many floors up! Niffty laughs loudly “that’s a question I can’t answer, you should ask him, you know considering how close you two have been getting recently.” 

That catches you off guard, she’d seen you getting close to him? What does that even mean? Suddenly all instances where you’ve been in close contact with him spring to the forefront of your mind and suddenly you feel nauseated and a little flushed for an entirely different reason but you try to play it off and act cool “what?” You ask in disbelief as if she were crazy when really, she was probably more clued in about what was going on between you and Alastor than _you_ were! 

She doesn’t reply, just shakes her head with a quite “ _mhmm_ ” it was sassy sounding, almost challenging. She leads you beyond a set of heavy metal doors and up to what you assumed to be Alastor’s room, you would be lying if you said you weren’t a little curious as to what his personal space looked like, Niffty takes out a metal ring laden with keys in multiple shapes and sizes. 

She picks a particularly shiny one from the collection it’s lengthy and red, how befitting, where it was attached to the metal ring it was shaped oddly like an eye. It was unnerving, you felt like it was watching you she swiftly places the key into the lock, turning it, you hear the metal _clunk_ of the door unlocking. She pulls the key back out and swings the door open. 

You’re not sure what you’d been expecting, really, but this wasn’t it. The room looked a bit haphazard, quilts and pillows were strewn everywhere, there was a particularly white fluffy rug led neatly on the floor in front of an empty fireplace, though empty it maybe it looked well used the wood and brick behind looked well charred, black soot was seeping out onto the floor from overuse. 

Next to the large double bed were two bedside tables one looked more used than the other, which gave you a vague idea of which side he slept on. On that particular nightstand were a multitude of bottles one was missing a bottle cap, and the others you could see little hazard stickers on. On the left side on the room on the wall was a buck’s head. It made you a little sick to be completely honest. 

_Each to their own..._

That wall, though, apart from the buck’s head, had a desk nestled up against it, it was a deep maroon colour with a velvet padded seat, on the opposite wall, from you, was a walk-in closet, it was closed but the light was left on, you could see through the wooden slates that, that may be the only part of the room that wouldn’t need tidying. 

Oh Lucifer, you only hoped that maybe he wasn’t annoying enough to make you clean his bathroom, because a thousand times ew! You turn to Niffty in horror “looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us” she simply nods looking as shocked as you did, it worried you a little that it had surprised her also. It did not instil courage in you. 

“Well, best get started” she mumbles her singular eye is shifting every which way as if she doesn’t even know where to start “how about we work from the opposite walls in toward the bed and make the bed the last thing we do?” You suggest she looks relieved and a little impressed she agrees immediately and wanders to the other side of the room and starts cleaning. _Slowly..._

You guess she’s making sure not to miss anything, or finish without you maybe? You shrug and start with the fireplace, cleaning up all the ash and soot soon Niffty’s taken to humming like usual and you both fall into a familiar routine. You’re edging closer toward the bed now; you’re tidying away all of those silly bottles into the cupboard of his nightstand. 

Some of these struck you as a little worrying, especially for a demon, like Alastor, to have on one of the nightstands in his room, some of these had hazard and toxic stickers on them, they listed off strange side effects when ingested. It made you question a lot when you picked up a particular bottle, you read through the side effects and felt your eyes widen. 

You frantically try looking for a label with its name on it, but it’s been ripped off, side effects include but are not limited to: 

**Increased weakness**

**Vomiting**

**Sweating**

**Fainting**

**Hallucinations**

**Abdominal pain**

**Organ failure**

**Rapid Hair Loss**

**Skin Irritation**

If ingested take-and the label is torn here as well...Your eyes slowly wander up to the bottle that is lacking a bottle cap, as if something’s telling you that you should take a look at it as if somehow it would give you answers. You pick it up gently and read through it, apparently, it’s some kind of antidote to the poison or whatever it is you’re holding. 

But it too has a severely torn label, so torn that you can’t even read enough of it for it to make sense. You peep inside the open end the liquid is suspiciously clear and odourless, you peek discreetly in Niffty’s direction and see that she has her back turned to you, you make a lighting fast decision to store them in an easily accessible place and you would take them to your own room. 

Because you knew that if the stray bottle cap, you’d found the other day fit that bottle then you’d know exactly how you’d gotten sick in the first place. It’s funny you were secretly hoping that this was just some weird coincidence but something was telling you that it wasn’t, that Alastor truly had, had ill intent for you. That Vaggie, Angel and even Husk were right, they were all right about him. 

You take a deep breath to settle your nerves, you don’t even read through all the other bottles you just quickly place them into the cupboard and close it. You get up turning toward the bed you jump, startled to see Niffty staring at you intensely “ready to finish up in here? All we have left to do is straighten up the bed” she says excitedly as if she can’t wait to get out. 

You nod and help her straighten up the pillows and blankets, seriously how many does he need? You and Niffty laugh almost simultaneously as if you were both thinking the same thing “jeez this is a lot of pillows and blankets for one fuckin guy” you laugh, disbursing nervous energy disguised as mirth. You hoped she couldn’t sense it on you like Val had. 

And just when she leaves it long enough to make you think you’d been made she laughs again “I have no idea, even my bed doesn't look like this and I love plushie stuff as much as the next demon!” You laugh in relief; you could believe that. You bet if you bought her a plushie she’d love it forever, heck she’d probably love _you_ forever! 

As you both finished up you let her start walking out of the room first while you quickly snag those two bottles from the hiding spot you left them in, FYI it was slightly under the bed, you quickly leave the room after her with them hidden behind your back. You made sure to follow behind her the entire time you walked back into the direction of the lobby before stopping her just before you reached the stairs. 

“Uh, Niffty you wouldn’t mind if I quickly...uh...nipped to my room for a sec would ya?” You ask nervously she raises her eyebrow “go ahead, I’ll make us some sandwiches, it looks like Alastor isn’t back yet and we’re gonna need the fuel if we’re gonna burn through the rest of that list, meet me in the kitchen when you’re done!” She exclaims before bounding loudly down the stairs and rushing off into kitchen disappearing from sight. 

The minute you can no longer see her you sprint to your room, you burst through the door and look for the bottle cap, it had fallen off your bedside table and onto the floor just under your bed you pick up the cap your fingers briefly brushing against something fluffy but cold causing you to jump, but when you looked there was nothing. 

You shake your head, come on don’t get distracted now! You reach for the capless bottle and shakily screw the bottle cap on. It fit snugly. Like it was meant for that bottle... _because it was!_ Something screamed at you from somewhere deep in your brain. You stare at it for a minute; you felt sick again, the hurt that you felt was nothing; you had been betrayed before this was nothing new. 

You hadn’t even really trusted Alastor in the first place, so why did this hurt? Was it because of the way he’d looked at you earlier? Like he was distraught at the thought of you getting hurt? But if that had upset him so much then why had he hurt you first? The answer was clear, disturbingly clear. It made bile rise up your throat and tears flood your cheeks. 

_It’s because he wants to be the only one to hurt you...isn’t it?_

It’s okay to him if he does it, but not for anyone else. A bitter laugh escapes you, it was hollow sounding, emotionless, you can’t believe you’d felt sorry for him. You can’t believe you’d thought that maybe, just maybe, his feelings had been hurt because you were trying to keep your distance from him. Of course, he’d made you feel that way that’s what psychopaths do. 

They make you feel like the bad guy like you’re the one who did something wrong. That’s why they win, every time. _Master manipulator_. Even that title was too kind for him. You felt wrong like something wasn’t adding up you couldn’t put your finger on it and to be honest you weren’t even sure you wanted to. 

You sniffle but wipe your eyes, you conceal the bottles in your bedside drawer and hurry down to meet Niffty hoping that you didn’t look too messy, hoping that you didn’t look as though you’d just been crying. Hoping that you could fake being happy at least until bedtime. But even then, you felt the trust that you’d been building up for days shatter and crumble into nothingness. 

_Scattered with the remains of your heart._

Niffty had watched you scuttle down the hallway and the minute you were out of sight she raced up to Husk shaking him violently he cracked open a single and she immediately spills what had happened “oh dear Lucifer, it was Alastor he poisoned her!” She exclaims harshly Husk nearly shoots up off of the couch but she forces him to stay sat down muttering something about making sure you don’t find him suddenly being awake suspicious. 

He shakes his head in frustration “Are you sure?” He asks she nods sporadically “oh I’m sure I watched her pick up two separate bottles one poison and one antidote, it was lacking a bottle cap. She's literally just taken them to her room, I bet you anything he left the bottle cap in her room” she replies Husk huffs “poor girl, can’t say she hadn’t been warned, but she didn’t deserve to go through the pain that she did.” Niffty nods in agreement before making her way into the kitchen and making the sandwiches she had promised you. Husk laid back down and pretended to sleep even as he heard you walking down the lobby steps. 

Alastor was on his way back to the hotel, he could see it standing tall in the distance, after his...annoying yet albeit enlightening conversation with Lucifer and Lilith, he now had a much better understanding of the rapidly growing affection he was feeling for you. Of course, he had yet to consider where to go from here, but for now, his thoughts had been silenced. Sated by the knowledge that it was neither his nor your doing, not on purpose anyway. 

He could certainly understand why his attention had been captured by you, but his mind was still trying to get a firm grasp on this new concept, he’d once been convinced that he could never feel this way about another person human or otherwise. Yet somehow, you’d managed your worm your way into his cold dead heart, clever little fox, he thought fondly. 

That also meant that a lot of the things he’d planned had now flown out the window, especially after today, he’d gotten more than a little worked up over seeing Valentino slam your head into that wall. He secretly hoped you were taking it easy. He hums summoning his microphone to him, a constant companion to him in such cases as these. 

Swinging it around skilfully for a moment he’s suddenly yelled at “I wish you’d stop that; you have no idea how queasy it makes me!” His smile slides into place “but my friend it is simply too tempting” he replies, he hears a static crackled huff “yeah I bet, so whaddya want now? This ain’t about that girl is it?” Alastor huffs, of course, he already knew he was technically a part of him. 

It took the fun from the conversations sometimes “yes, it is, do not pretend you didn’t know that already” his ‘friend’ sighs rolling its eye like he’d had enough already “that girl causes you such emotional turmoil you’ve taken to talking to yourself, I don’t know what I can say that’s going to help any more than that!” Alastor laughs “yes I suppose you’re quite right” another static fuelled sigh “I’m always right!” 

After conversing with his touché friend, he concludes that he would need to talk to you immediately, and hopefully, you would be able to provide him with a way to move forward. When he finally reaches the hotel doors, he relaxes his shoulders for a moment taking a deep breath, he huffs out a slight laugh, he could smell you already. Your sent was particularly potent after such a vigorous beating. 

You must still be covered in your own dry blood; most likely it was stuck in your hair. Nevertheless, he could smell you he couldn’t tell what he wanted more, to ask you if you were okay, to seek out Valentino and end his existence or wrap himself up in your scent and never leave, never do anything else ever again. That is until he can smell something else, past the cleaning products you were using, past the dust, past your natural scent. It smelled _salty_. 

You and Niffty are halfway down the list now, you’re polishing the stair rail and the bars holding it up when Alastor walks in through the hotel doors letting them close loudly behind him causing Husk to jump up off the sofa. He sends a few grumpy slurs Alastor’s way before making his way behind the bar when he gets there, he pulls out a beer and looks directly at you. 

“Hey, kid?” He calls out, giving you the nickname, you secretly missed, you give a chin jut to signal you heard him “thanks...for ya know...just thanks” He says bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck you smile but it doesn’t quite reach your eyes you hear Alastor call out your name your smile drops as you gaze lands on him, he looks different. 

Less confident, he looked nervous and jittery like a spring that’s been too tightly coiled you wonder what’s bothering him for a minute before remembering exactly why you’re giving him such a sour face “can I talk to you, in private...please?” It’s strange you’d never seen him act like this before. You roll your eyes “I can’t right now Niffty and I have an extensive list of chores to get through, we’re only halfway down and they’re supposed to be done before the day ends.” 

You watch his eyebrows draw downward in confusion he shakes his head “what list?” He asks in confusion, you sigh in irritation “that really long list you gave Niffty that drops to the floor and then some” you huff polishing furiously, nearly chipping away the paint there’s a silent pause for a minute when you look back up at him, he still looks confused “I never gave Niffty a list today, the only one I have is for next month for the entire month, not to be done in one day.” 

Husk coughs indiscreetly “Yeah I gave Niffty that list” you look at him with confused eyes “what? Why?” You ask feeling genuinely confused Husk huffs “which ‘chores’ have you done already?” You shrug and list them off one of which surprises Alastor far more than the others “I cannot stress this enough but when I say I would never have you or Niffty tidy my room, I mean it” Alastor says with conviction. 

Husk nods “yeah, I added that one, what did you find in there?” He questions turning to you, you can feel all the will you’d built up drained away you snarl “did you know anything about that?!” You yell Husk’s eyes grow wide at the hostility in your voice “well at first it was just a hunch but now I’m sure” his head turns to Alastor “You poisoned her? You fucking bastard!” 

Alastor looks more than a bit confused he looks back over to you and raise a single eyebrow “what is he talking about?” You shake your head in irritation throwing the rag down at your feet you hang your head and in a monotone voice you say “okay Alastor, let’s talk.” You lead him to your room swinging the door open you walk straight in opening the draw to your nightstand pulling out both bottles that you’d found and throwing them at him, he caught them skilfully, the minute his eyes landed on them he knew exactly what they were. 

“You know Alastor, I felt bad for you the other night-” You start, your voice wobbles but you’re determined not to cry, you need to talk because if you don’t you know he will and every time he talks, he wins. “-You sounded so upset when you’d asked me if I thought you could hurt me and honestly, I had thought that maybe the others were wrong about you.” 

You hear a snap and the bottles are gone, no doubt back on that stupid nightstand you’d cleared away he’s walking over to you when you start talking again “But they weren’t, not once, and you know what? I really wished they were.” You laugh bitterly again the closer he got the more on edge you felt when he was within touching distance of you, you place your palm firmly against his chest stopping him in his tracks. 

You could feel his heart thumping wildly against his chest “I can’t believe you had the nerve to get frustrated with me today when I got hurt, but you hurt me first” your feelings betray you; a tear manages to slip down your cheek you wipe it away quickly but you know he already saw it. “I-I just want to be left alone for a while, because frankly, I can’t tell whether you’re being genuine or if you’re trying to drive me completely insane for the pure enjoyment it gives you.” 

“Little fox, I-” you push him away, it’s half-hearted and he barely budges but he gets it he steps back a few paces enough for your arm to just fall by your side “No don’t-don’t call me that, don’t give me any nicknames, don’t touch me, don’t look at me, you don’t get to do that, you don’t care and you proved it to me, yourself.” 

When you look back up at him his expression is steely as if you had just ripped out his heart or kicked his puppy, good, now he knew how you felt “just leave me alone because quite frankly I don’t want to talk to you anymore” he nods, but it’s not normal it’s almost robotic and emotionless “If that’s what you want” he replies coldly. 

When he leaves, you collapse into a heap on the floor, your chest feels tight and painful and you simply can’t hold back the sobs anymore, you couldn’t understand why it hurt. Why did you care? You hadn’t lost a friend but you had no idea what you’d lost. 

Who was Alastor to you? You could think of only one person to ask, and she was currently out on a date you call her number on the cell phone she’d gifted you a while back “Charlie? Where are you? I need to get out of the hotel for a while, talk to you and Vaggie.” 

“ _Please..._ ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's your first actual fall out with Alastor, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thanks so much for reading, all comments are greatly appreciated and I'll see you next week with the next one! Thanks again!


	13. The Lonely...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This inexplicable feeling persists not just in you but in Alastor as well, he knows he will never truly leave you alone, and the others seem concerned about his new, more permanent, attachment to you, vowing to never let you out of their sight...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢End of Editing!📢 This chapter is the last in the line of editing I've tweaked a few things in this chapter and I am finally going to continue uploading as per usual!!!! Yayy!! :D

Alastor swung open the door to his room...it was _exceptionally tidy_ _and clean_ , he should have to thank Niffty later, and as much as he wanted to bestow you with appreciation as well you had already made your feelings, your wants and needs, crystal clear to him. That didn’t mean he was giving up on you though, it just meant he’d have to try even harder now, _he liked a challenge_. 

He wandered in closing the door behind him and locking it, he sat at his desk and pulled out a notebook, listing down all the ideas in which he could make it up to you, because as much as you said you needed space, time...that you didn’t want to talk to him anymore, he simply couldn’t do that. 

It was _physically painful_ for him to be too far away from you, he didn’t like the distance...but he would try and give you space...for today. His room smelled like you now, though it was fading little by little it helped him concentrate that much harder. His chest had started hurting the minute he left your room and, of course, he’d heard your sobbing. It was usually a sound that roused enjoyment in him. 

But coming from you it was different... _he disliked it_. It didn’t sound right, honestly, he had wanted to discard what you had said and wrap you up in his arms but he knew you would have gotten far more upset with him if he didn’t give you the space you’d asked for. He wondered how Husk, Angel, Niffty, Charlie and even Vaggie had gotten you to laugh. Actually, it astounded him, he would have to observe your interactions with them much closer, maybe he’d find it helpful. The pain suddenly started increasing exceedingly quickly, he paused in his movements to listen. His eyes grow wide in realisation. _You were leaving..._

Charlie had hurriedly told you where to meet her and that she’d walk you back to where she and Vaggie had been, you hung up and briskly left your room snagging a cardigan on the way out. You stumble down the steps of the lobby stairs and rush toward the door “hey kid look I’m-kid? Hey! Wait where are you going!?” Husk yells coming out from behind the bar only to watch you leave the hotel in a hurry. 

You felt bad for leaving him hanging but you needed to get out! To get some air, see different faces, you felt stifled and contained, caged like an animal. It made your entire body tremble, you blood felt like ice, and this is exactly how it had felt when you found out that your dad and two older brothers were hunting you down. You could feel the growing anxiety building up in your chest. 

Your eyes prickled painfully with fresh tears, but you didn’t stop no matter how painful it was, you rush past the gate of the hotel and stalk past numerous denizens not even really paying attention to them. Not noticing that some of them were sparing you confused or even disgusted glances it didn’t matter, nothing mattered anymore. 

You had tried so hard to trust those who had taken you in and one person just had to ruin it! Your heart clenched causing you to hunch over and let out a quiet whimper, but you forced your legs to keep going, you wouldn’t stop until your legs physically _couldn’t_ keep going. That’s how determined you were, how determined you felt. 

_How desperately you craved an escape._

It was cold, yet you could barely feel it now, you’d been walking only a few minutes but alone inside your head, with only your thoughts for company, it felt like hours. You felt numb, you didn’t want anyone to be right about anything anymore, because all it caused was pain. _Trusting people caused you pain..._

Actually, Vaggie, Husk, Angel they’d all tried to warn you, and you hadn’t listened, how foolish to think that finding out anything for yourself would bring you anything but hurt. Your eyes were tired and sore, you were just barely keeping them open. Not even paying attention to where you were going, for all you knew you were lost. 

You’d passed a multitude of shops, bars and clubs, rowdy denizens having aggressive fights, Succubi and Incubi selling love at break-neck prices on street corners, but you wouldn’t know because you hadn’t been paying attention because it didn’t matter, it didn’t matter if you were lost, because you knew damn well that if you couldn’t find Charlie or a way back to the hotel, _they’d find you._

And with... _him_...to help it most certainly wouldn’t take long. But lucky for you, that wasn’t happening today... _yay_...you guessed. Charlie was stood in front of you waving her hands in front of your face trying to elicit some kind of response, anything really. Your eyes looked like that of a dead fish, completely dull and expressionless, it made her wonder what had happened. 

She gently takes you by the wrist and leads you back where she’d come from, you follow behind stumbling most of the way. Energy draining from your body truly you had never felt more lifeless than you do right now, hollow, empty, excavated these were all just words and honestly if you could pull up a dictionary or a thesaurus, you’re sure that even then you wouldn’t be able to find the right words to describe what you were feeling. 

As _exaggerated_ as that sounds, it was really nothing new, this feeling had always been there just below the surface of your new green skin, you had always felt it, it never went away you were just accustomed to hiding it, keeping it concealed from the world, locked up within you so you wouldn’t worry anyone with it. Now here you are, scaring the living hell out of Vaggie and Charlie who have been desperately trying to get your attention for a while. 

_How valiant of them._

When you finally pull yourself from the deep murky depths of your thoughts and look at them, like really look at them, you can hear them exhale sighs of relief but it meant little to you, such a sound that would usually make you attempt to assure them that you were okay now rang like a whispery bell in the breeze, it rang out to the nothingness within and is eventually swallowed by the depths. 

It felt surreal to you like you were here and also not here, you didn’t feel fully present yet you knew your lips were moving and words were spilling out, you felt like you were watching everything happen from the safety of your own head, and letting your brain and body do the rest of the heavy lifting. 

Vaggie was never angrier than she was right now, she knew it couldn’t have been a coincidence that you’d gotten sick and just so happened to feel right as rain the very next day, but you hadn't questioned it and she didn’t want to worry you further, honestly good on Husk for plotting such a good plan and setting it in motion. 

Or they never would have found out, Charlie had been busy nodding her head and offering brief replies but Vaggie for once was at a loss, you looked nearly dead inside and she had no idea how to help, she chewed the skin around her nails, staring at you she’d never seen a demon completely withdraw into themselves before, that’s such a human thing. _Was this your way of dealing with stressful situations?_

Angel used humour, Husk drank, Charlie would call her mum, despite not getting an answer very often, and Vaggie would often takeout her anger on...well anything. So, maybe this was your way of coping, you would withdraw, maybe that’s all you needed? Time, space, and, obviously, that’s not happening so your only defence is to withdraw _internally._

Sounds scary to her, but if it made you feel better...she’d leave it for now, if you didn’t snap out of it by tomorrow then she’d have to do something about it. Charlie was just plain shocked “I’ll talk with Alastor, we definitely don’t allow poisoning our staff...something’s just not sitting right with me” she mumbles, Vaggie nods despite knowing exactly what a conniving, toxic parasite Alastor was, something wasn’t sitting well with her either. 

Charlie whips around to Vaggie looking determined more so than she had prior when she’d gotten the phone call, “In fact, I’m going straight back there to talk to Alastor myself” Charlie says with conviction Vaggie nods getting up from her seat. The setting they were in currently reminded her of a fairy-tale, there were decorative fairy light’s above them looking much like stars. 

The lush greenery they were surrounded by, looked much like the edge of a forest back home, on the edge of a tall cliff. It had been created by Lucifer as a gift to Lilith, but Charlie and Vaggie often had dates there. A cute little table set up for two, only two and that table remained set up for dates whenever they wanted them. A crisp white table cloth, two tall candles that never withered or burned out, the wick never melted under the flames. 

Two clean plates, clean cutlery, and a beautiful view of the ocean below, Charlie’s father had insisted they use it whenever they felt the need to take a moment of privacy. It was a generous offer one they couldn’t refuse. But now the dream-like feeling had been brushed away with problems surfacing back at the hotel. 

You felt awful for ruining their date, this place was gorgeous and no doubt they were getting some much-needed private time. You feel like now you should have spoken to Husk, or even Angel it’s not like they were busy. You felt like such an idiot but even as Charlie asked if you wanted them to walk you back to the hotel you couldn’t bring yourself to want to go back so early. 

No matter how utterly painful it was for you to stay you needed the distance you just needed to _feel_ the loneliness inside of you. Because the more you ignore it the more intense the feeling got, you shake your head no, and Charlie nods slowly “well make sure you stay here, don’t leave and wander off on your own, this place is protected from other demons they can’t enter without my permission, you’ll be safe here.” 

Then they were gone you settled down into the lush grass, laying back and looking up at the lights with blurred vision, one scene played on repeat in your mind, your death. You tried to recall how you’d felt, what you’d said, who you’d seen but the more you thought about it the more the memory started to blur and become murky. You knew your father had been the one to end you, but you couldn’t remember why. 

Had you done something wrong? Surely, you must have. Why else would he have killed you? But what had it been? You start humming a familiar tune, this one you knew well, it was sad, self-loathing, just like you. But it was also a beautiful tribute to lives that had been lost while you were alive. You wonder if any of them had ended up down here? You hoped not. 

You could have been left in that secluded area for days, you’d lost track of time, and, honestly, you weren’t even sure if time was an actual thing down here, sure you had days and nights, and clocks but did you really have time in Hell? By now you’d hummed several tunes, sang two of them, terribly you might add, and now you’d taken to just listening to the bustling of the denizens outside of your little safe bubble. 

You tried to imagine it being like home, like when you went to the fair and you’d gotten dizzy from all the rides, you’d lay down in the wet grass and listen to the cars on the road next to you, you’d listen to the people walking on the stone pavement. You try to remember what it would have smelled like, rain, mud, car fumes. Pollution. You twirl your fingers into the grass beneath you and close your eyes. 

_And it’s almost like you’re there._

Back at the hotel, it had already been a while since Vaggie and Charlie had gotten back “Have you two seen her? She stormed out half an hour ago and she’s not back yet!” Husk sounded panicked, alarmed that you’d gone out on your own Charlie nods sullenly “yeah, she’s in the safe spot, she wanted to stay there for a little while, can’t say I blame her, excuse me, I need to talk with Alastor” she replies, hurrying off up the stairs and out of sight. 

Vaggie had been waiting downstairs with Husk ever since, it had been a long hour and a half since but when Charlie finally came back down, she’d brought Angel with her they looked worried and sketchy as hell “Husk, the safe spot, can you please go and get her now!?” Charlie exclaims Angel’s eyes are so wide and upset looking. 

Husk nods, he doesn't need to be asked twice she quickly gives him directions and permission to enter and he sets off, the others we left in the lobby to discuss what was happening. Vaggie had never been more panicked my Charlie’s tone more than she was right now. Angel slumps into one of the bar stools. 

It was unlike Charlie to be forcefully commanding it made Vaggie nervous “cariño, what is it? What’s wrong?” She asks calmly, lovingly, trying to soothe her worries “Alastor’s barely keeping it together up there, keeps complaining that he’s in pain, that his chest’s hurting, like-” she stops abruptly Vaggie’s eyes widen. “ _Impossible_ ” she whispers but Charlie simply nods “He’s an absolute mess Vaggie it’s terrifying.” She replies looking toward the hotel doors hoping that Husk would be quick. 

You could feel yourself being held, it’s warm, and gentle and fluffy, you can hear them breathing, letting out an occasional grunt as they shift you into a more comfortable position, you’d thought about opening your eyes long ago, but you knew you didn’t need to, you’d memorised all of their heartbeats, it was Husk. _Soft, warm, fluffy Husk._

Somehow, a part of you is disappointed but the other part of you, the part that isn’t bat shit crazy, is relieved. You recognized the smell of the hotel, it was warm and musty, the smell of alcohol was thick in the air, “Guess you guys just couldn’t wait for me to get back, huh?” He says quietly closing the hotel doors behind him. The heat from the fireplace was making your skin tingle and come alive. 

You felt like you were coming back to yourself. The pain wasn’t as bad now, it had nearly stopped completely, but there was still a slight twinge. You felt Husk place you down on the sofa, the one that he had been sleeping on a little while ago. The thought of opening your eyes crosses you once more before voices fill the lobby with sound. 

You lay as still as possible and simply listen “found her sleeping on the grass, didn’t have the heart to wake her she’s had a rough day, now does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” He asks you hear quiet sighing and then the sound of Husk making his way over to the others, you listen to them quietly whisper among themselves for a minute before Husk exclaims “he’s what?!” 

Charlie’s eyes glance at you worriedly but when you don’t stir, she turns back to the infuriated cat demon “it’s true-” she whispers quietly “-it was the same for mom and dad and Vaggie and me...” she adds grabbing one of Vaggie’s hands holding it in a tight but gently grasp. He shakes his head his orange eyes gaze at you worriedly before turning back to the others “do you think he knows?” He asks “I don’t know, maybe, but more importantly what do we do now?” Charlie replies she sounds incredibly stressed. There’s silence for a minute, you can almost feel their eyes on you, you fight a shudder at the thought. 

“Come on, if he knows then this is dangerous territory, we can’t fight him on this, we don’t get a say, not to mention I know that insufferable prick, if he really wants her, then he will never let her go! He’ll fight for her tooth and nail!” Husk whisper-yells “she’s never gonna be able to leave him, is she?” Vaggie asks there’s a long resounding sigh “I have no idea” Charlie admits there’s the distinct sound of drinking and then a glass bottle being placed on the bar top. 

What are they talking about? What's wrong? Is it about you? You feel one of your ears twitch slightly and you could curse yourself for it, you secretly hope that they’re too engrossed in their own thoughts to notice you getting all twitchy. “We’re just gonna have to keep an eye on her and see how this plays out” Charlie finally breaks the silence, the atmosphere is so tense it’s uncomfortable and heavy, like its own pressure weighing you down. 

Keeping you pinned to the sofa, “so we’ll all keep an eye on her, make sure nothing too...extreme happens? Right?” Vaggie asks there’s a pause but a chorus of agreement greets you. There’s a tonne of movement, glass bottles being thrown into some unknown place “Chucks, Vags, we know ya were both busy, why don’t ya go back to ya date, Husky and I can take it from here, for now,” Angel suggests. 

They thank him but they don’t leave the hotel, though their footsteps do get further away, presumably, heading up to their room. You can hear feet padding toward you, they’re quiet, it could only be Husk walking back over to you, as you assume that by the lack of talking Niffty wasn’t present. 

Something soft and frayed is draped over you and a presence that radiates heat like a fucking bonfire sits on the floor next to you “you know, kid, I was real fucking worried when you left in a hurry like that” you freeze, did he know you weren’t asleep? If he did, had he known the whole time? You were just about to open your eyes and apologize frantically about listening in and upsetting him. 

Until you feel clawed fingers scratching behind one of your ears “you can’t just leave like that, kiddo, I was all up and ready to drop everything just to come and find you” Husk continues and now it’s evident to you that he was completely unaware of just how awake you actually were. It's sweet to you, to know that he was spilling his inner thoughts and worries to you thinking you couldn’t hear him. 

The scratching behind your ears was relaxing and calming you knew you were incapable of purring but if you could then you feel like you would have a while ago “don’t scare me like that again, kid, I mean it. I’ve already told you I may say that I’m incapable of love but that’s just to keep others from trying” he finishes quietly you feel the cushion beneath you dip a bit and the clawed hand at your ear resting gently on your head continuing the relaxing motions, you feel something slightly wet brush against your cheek before the feeling stops immediately. 

You can feel yourself dropping off into sleep and the deep rumbling purring next to you only quickens the process. You’d never slept so deeply and calmly, so pleasantly in all your afterlife. 

While you slept peacefully Angel was sat at the bar keeping watch occasionally sneaking in a beer or two, it had surprised him yesterday to see Husk stood at the bar yet dead as a doornail, at least to them, jeez who slept stood up? That was an incredible feat, but now that he watched the both of you, he realized that Husk could probably fall asleep just about anywhere. 

His hand was still twitching at your ear occasionally resuming the idle scratching behind it but he was definitely asleep. And so were you, led languidly on the sofa slowly becoming a mess of tangled limbs and a single blanket honestly, Angel chuckles to himself until he hears someone coming down the stairs a single glance over to them and his eyes nearly pop out of his skull. 

Alastor’s making his way down the stairs elegantly, but he looks dishevelled his hair is a mess, like he’s been pulling at it, his clothes are wrinkled, there are visible bags under his eyes, he’s holding that ridiculous microphone. Yet he looks as though he’s trying to maintain this image of perfection, he’d created for himself his smile though forced was still there stretched across his face as if it had been painted on. 

He glides immediately toward you, making a b-line for the sofa you were led on. Angel sputters his drink out and after a few minutes of desperately trying to clear his throat, he’s finally able to get out the word “don’t” really Angel that’s all you could muster up for the girl who took a beating for you today? He shakes his head “she’s sleeping, she’s had a rough day don’t you think you should let her rest?” 

He was shaking, nervously, he was scared of Val sure, but Alastor gave him different kind of anxiety, the guy was seriously way too creepy. Alastor didn’t even acknowledge that he’d even spoken to him as he slowly bends at the waist, he gently runs a hand through your soft tresses you stir a little and he pulls back immediately not wanting to wake you because that meant he’d _have_ to leave you alone again. 

He couldn’t...no that’s wrong, _he didn’t want to_. He was being selfish but that should come as no surprise to anyone, when he straightens up again, he makes the effort to fix himself up brushing his coat down he looks over to Angel. Angel’s blood turns cold under his gaze “Are you hungry, my effeminate fellow?” He’d not been expecting that he’s about to answer but he doesn’t get a chance. 

“Splendid! I’ll cook” Alastor announces in a flourish he all but runs to the kitchen leaving Angel agape and confused, he wasn’t sure how he felt at the prospect of a stressed looking Alastor cooking his food. In fact, the more he thought of it that way, the less he liked it. _Much less._

When you wake again you look down at the sleeping mass of black fur next to you but when you look around the rest of the lobby it’s empty. However, there’s a distinct sound of quiet chatter coming from the direction of the kitchen you look back down at Husk, poor guy probably hasn’t eaten all day and honestly, you weren’t exactly rushing to eat any more of Alastor’s food. 

You gently scratch one of Husks ears and then tug it lightly waking him he gives you this bashful look, he’s obviously blushing but he doesn’t say anything about it you cup his cheek daringly “Are you hungry I don’t mind cooking something for us?” You ask you hope that he says yes so that you don’t have to stand in the kitchen alone with them while you cook. 

He nods “yeah, I’m not starving per se, but I’ll eat anything you’re making” you’re extremely flattered you flush a little at the compliment, you both get up untangling yourselves from the blanket, Husk grabs your hand and you both wander into the kitchen. They were all there, Angel was looking incredibly uncomfortable Vaggie was eating extremely slowly, but Charlie and Niffty were eating as usual. 

Angel was picking at his food, he looked starved, Alastor on the other hand was eating but his gaze was pinned to the wall behind Vaggie’s head. You shake your head it’s going to be uncomfortable but you needed to get it over with “Angel, are you okay?” You ask in concern Angel looks up at you in shock before nodding “uh yeah...” he says slowly looking back down at his plate full of food. 

“I’m just about to cook food for Husk and myself, do you want any?” You ask pottering about behind the kitchen island Angel practically leaps from his seat “yes!” He yells before looking around the table and then much slower “uh yeah sure thing, toots, whatcha makin’?” He asks, you shake your head thinking for a minute there’s been this bitter taste in your mouth all day and as much as you’re not a sweet person you’d do just about anything to make it go away. 

“Pancakes?” You suggest Husk and Angel nod and you quickly get started you could feel the others staring at the three of you enjoying your separate meal you had a feeling that this was going to be a long and tedious process. But as you stood and talked with Angel and Husk you knew you had a good support system backing you with whatever decisions you made regarding Alastor. 

You weren’t sure if you were going to completely disregard him, or if you would keep your relationship with him strictly business, but that decision didn’t have to be made right now. For now, you were just going to enjoy pancakes with two of your closest friends. 

_That was enough for you, it would always be enough for the lonely..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's Chapter 13!! I hope you all enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading!!!! All comments are grately appreciated and I'll see you next week!! Thanks again :D


	14. I’d Like to File a Formal Complaint...My Boss is Harassing Me!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a few weeks since the incident, you’d think he would have learned to pester the other occupants by now, but of course not! That simply wouldn’t do now, would it? Working with Niffty had never been more difficult. It’s the final straw time to file a formal complaint...about who you ask? Well, Alastor of course!!!! 

It had been a few weeks since you’d found out about Alastor tampering with your food, you’d tried your best to keep your distance from him but he was making it increasingly difficult for you. At the best of times, you were able to hide in Angel’s room but you couldn’t do that forever, you still have work after all. Work...yeah that had become an entirely different story altogether... 

He’d been popping his head in and out of the rooms you’d been in more often, honestly, he may as well have stayed and watched while the two of you worked because that’s practically what it felt like, he’d be in and out of the rooms every five minutes: 

_“Are you finished yet?”_

_“This spot needs to be polished again!”_

_“Are you quite alright?”_

_“Do you need a break yet?”_

_“Are you hungry?”_

That one would always be met with stony silence, at least he’d stopped giving you pet names like you’d asked but he hadn’t taken the whole ‘ _I need space_ ’ thing seriously he’d been crowding you far more often than you’d like and really, you’d prefer that he was nowhere near you at all if that were at all possible. And yet his tone had changed usually he would try to annoy you, and yes, he had been doing a swell job at that, but he’d also, recently, been fussing over you a little, it confused you so much, and you probably spent more time thinking about it than you actually should. 

There had been a few more of incidences similar to the Ladder incident, all of which had landed you either in his arms or if you were able to successfully avoid him, on your ass and as painful as those times were, there would be this slight feeling of triumph when you saw annoyance flit over his face. 

But recently those moments had been getting more and more dangerous, and now in situations that shouldn’t be dangerous for example when you were sweeping up in the lobby, you had to watch out for anything remotely threatening when he was around. He’d caused the chandelier to fall on you once thank Lucifer Angel had been there, you’re sure that Alastor would have attempted to save you at the very last minute but it was nice to see that your friends didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, just like you. 

Husk, Angel and Vaggie had been the rocks you clung to whenever you had free time, Husk let you sit behind the bar now out of reach from the cursed Radio Demon, it had been pissing Husk off to no end when he figured out that Alastor had been endangering you on purpose just so he had an excuse to touch you, even if only for a minute. You wouldn’t lie it had started to get under your skin too. 

Currently, you were in the Library with Niffty cleaning all of the bookcases, they got so dusty so quickly it amazed you, but you couldn’t complain too much the Library was lovely and warm all the time but you barely got to spend any time in there because this was Alastor’s main hangout spot. He was constantly in here and if he wasn’t in here, he was either in his room doing whatever he does in there, or he was taking the absolute piss by annoying the crap out of you. 

You’d been counting down the seconds from his last visit he’d offered to get you both drinks which you had point-blank refused, in fact, mealtimes had become something of a scheduled chore now. Charlie, Niffty and Alastor would eat together first, and then once they had left the kitchen you would cook for Angel, Vaggie and Husk it was sad, honestly, you missed the group mealtimes, it simply wasn’t the same anymore and it broke your heart that Charlie and Vaggie weren’t eating together like they should be. 

But the simple fact of the matter was that your little group no longer had a slither of trust in Alastor, not that Vaggie had any, to begin with, now she had even less. Husk and Angel had been indifferent but none of you could picture yourselves eating his food anymore. It had become like some awkward family feud on one side a powerful Overlord who could probably turn you into ash and on the other side you, a scrawny little demon girl, who was still absolutely clueless about what kind of demon she was. 

You sigh heavily you’d been lost in thought for so long you hadn’t realized that you’d stopped dusting, you shake your head and get back to wiping the shelves down and all too soon you hear the familiar sound of dress shoes you roll your eyes and mentally prepare yourself for some form of attack the Library was the only place he hadn’t attempted to endanger you yet. You had been expecting it sooner or later it was, after all, the ideal room to do it in. 

All of these tall ass bookcases would be the perfect weapon to him, you hear him open the door quietly and for a minute he doesn’t say anything he just stands and watches while you and Niffty work quietly even she had been getting a little testier around him lately, she hated it when he purposely interrupted the cleaning process by trying to put you in harm's way. You’d seen her yelling at him about it the other day, you never realised just how scary a 3ft demon with one eye could be. 

The silence continued for a good long while, the static in the air would crackle occasionally becoming harsh before easing off almost like he was restraining some hidden anger you wouldn’t be at all surprised if that were the case, in fact, you were banking on it. You’d just finished cleaning off the last bookcase, you turn around to the mahogany table behind you that was barely holding all of the books you’d had to remove. Setting down the cloth you start picking up books and putting them back on their rightful shelves. 

You were about halfway through putting them back you’d started from the top and worked your way down making sure to keep an eye on your ‘boss’ who was still stood on the other side of the room by the doors watching. You were about to pick up a few more books from the table to put onto the last three shelves when a slight movement catches your eye. Peeking at him discreetly you could see his hand making elegant movements beside him and horror washes over you when you realize that you’re about to be a victim of another one of his silly games. 

A loud whining sound emitted from the tall bookcase behind you. You turn slowly to face it and your breath catches in your throat, oh fuck. He’d loosened the attachments at the top that held the bookcase to the wall to prevent accidents like this...though this was no accident and you knew it. The bookcase was top half heavy causing it to lean forward slowly, the blood in your body had completely drained away at this point as you watched this overwhelmingly tall and heavy bookcase teeter slightly before falling forward completely. 

Books start falling from the shelves left, right and centre like rain, and not the nice kind of rain, you had nowhere to go, the table behind you was in your way, it was bolted to the floor it would take too long to round it you made the lightning-fast decision to sink to the floor. Making yourself as small as demonly possible, it didn’t prevent books from hitting you as they fell but with an almighty crash that wracks the hotel to its very core, the bookcase it stopped by the table, mere inches away from your cowering form. 

You had been lucky if the table hadn’t been there, you could only imagine what Alastor would have tried to do just to impress you and annoy you, knowing him. But you hadn’t been as lucky as you would have liked the books that had hit you had been extraordinarily heavy your arms, legs, chest and, you're sure, other parts of you were very bruised and sore. 

You crawl out from under the bookcase on your hands and knees you see his clawed hand offering to help you up, but you’ve just about had enough, this is taking it too far now you smack his hand away in frustration and force yourself up to your feet, even though your knees were buckling due to the adrenaline pumping through your system. You feel a slight slickness pouring from your forehead you felt slightly dizzy. 

You gasp quietly stumbling to the side you quickly grab onto the back of the chair next to you while reaching up a pale green hand to your forehead, you felt a thick substance pouring down your face forcing you to have to close your right eye when you pull your hand away it’s covered in blood and a lot of it. You wipe it from your right eye forcing it to open again so that you could see. Your green glowing eyes widen in horror as it starts to drip onto the library floor. You hear Niffty calling your name worriedly but you refuse to be fussed over. 

When you’re sure your able to stand without an aid you roll your shoulders and calmly make your way toward the library doors, “do you need any help with that? You seem to be bleeding quite profusely, dear” Alastor offers quietly, ah you were wondering how long he’d be able to keep it up before he started calling you that again. You refrain from shaking your head, actually, you refrain from speaking. 

You hadn’t actually spoken a word to Alastor since the food incident, it had been awfully difficult what with him doing shit like this all the time. Honestly, on the inside, you had screamed profanity worse than anything Husk could think up but outwardly you had forced yourself to remain quiet. Because you had very quickly realised that Alastor disliked total silence, no he hated it. You weren’t sure why, if it made him uncomfortable or maybe he simply saw it as rude but you had taken to annoying him by simply saying nothing at all. 

So, instead of replying you simply leave the room and take a slow and careful walk down to the Lobby, Charlie and the others were sat watching some lame looking movie on the TV for lack of anything better to do when you reached the top of the stairs you cleared your throat catching the attention of the others their gasps were almost comical until you remembered why you had wandered there in the first place, “I think I’m in need of some medical attention” you say slowly. 

Vaggie practically scrambles over the rest of them to get to you, gripping your elbows to steady you “what happened?!” She yells worriedly her eye frantically searching over you and seeing bruise after bruise after bruise. The cut on your forehead was still bleeding stubbornly refusing to stop “Alastor forced a bookcase in the library to fall on me, I was lucky the table was there” you reply feeling slightly out of it, one of the books must have hit you very hard. You could almost see birds flying around your head like a dazed cartoon character. 

Vaggie nearly explodes there and then turning to Charlie slightly she mutters “This has got to stop, she’s covered in little cuts and bruises and the one on her head is refusing to stop bleeding, he’s gonna end up breaking her bones or crushing her skull at some point!” Charlie, on the other hand, is looking equally as disappointed pinching the bridge of her nose “we can talk about that after we’ve cleaned her up, yeah?” 

You sit patiently still at the table while Vaggie cleans your cuts and bandages your head once again this was starting to feel like a routine for you two, she could be a professional doctor if you kept going like this. Husk is sat silently fuming next to you, but holding your hand to comfort you Angel was chatting away to you about the incident “Jesus, toots, this is like the hundredth time he’s pulled this shit!” He exclaims you nod as Vaggie finishes bandaging your fingers mumbling ‘all done’ before leaving to put the medical box away. 

“I dunno what I’m supposed to do I can’t avoid him and he refuses to leave me alone, he’s pestering me constantly, the only thing that I can do to piss him off even slightly is keeping my mouth shut and even then, that’s hard to fucking do. The sheer amount of times I’ve wanted to scream at him are bordering on obsessive” you reply feeling the strain of the past few weeks, on top of that you hadn’t been sleeping well either. 

You’d been having numerous amounts of nightmares, and things had been disappearing from your room without any explanation, mainly it was items of clothing you wore the most but other things were going missing too. You’d had to buy three new toothbrushes, two new bed sets, and countless amounts of hair accessories. It was freaking you out and you had a sneaking suspicion that you knew exactly where they were going. At this rate, you were going to run out of clothes especially pyjamas. 

You turn to Charlie with a serious expression and as calmly as you could you break the silence that had befallen you all “I’d like to file a formal complaint, please” you say sternly you weren’t asking her; you were telling her. You’d be putting in a complaint whether she accepted it or not she sighs she didn’t need to ask but she was gonna because it was part of her job “and who would this complaint be about?” She asks formally, you nearly smirk, it was adorable that she was taking this so seriously, but then again it was a very serious situation “my boss, otherwise known as Alastor.” 

An hour and a half later you’ve filled out a formal complaint form, that you had no idea that she had, and now she was personally seeking him out to talk to him, as sternly as her kind persona would allow. She finds him in the library, being yelled at loudly by Niffty this surprised her, she had never seen this tender looking demon so riled up before but honestly taking a look around the room she could understand. 

The bookcase that had fallen was one of the few that was bolted to the wall for the safety of the others because it was one of the rare few that was so tall, she sighs “Alastor!” She calls seriously, he was still smiling and honestly, she found herself starting to agree with the others more and more often than usual “why yes my charming demon belle, what can I do you for today, my dear?” He replies uncommonly nice but she could hear the subtle annoyance in his voice. 

This caused one of her eyebrows to twitch upward slightly “a word if you don’t mind, but first I’d like you to clean up your mess, don’t worry I’ll wait” She replies in a rather cold and harsh tone of voice. She had always had to raise her voice to be heard, to be taken seriously but enough was enough she was done shouting she would be heard even if it killed her. 

Meanwhile, you were sat behind the bar flicking through TV channels rapidly trying to find something decent to watch, long lost demons? Nope. Shitty sitcom...sure why not? You place the remote back on the bar and watch quietly while Husk is whipping the bar top down occasionally sparing a glance at you every now and then. He’s about to ask you something when the sound of Charlie shouting angrily catches you both off guard. 

Your eyes widen as you turn to Husk before you both take off like speeding bullets up the stairs and racing off down a maze of corridors before finally finding her, she’s yelling at a very proud looking Alastor, looks like he’s gotten under the princess thick skin, and honestly, that was worrying she had thicker skin than you did. 

She was amazing at letting things slide, horrible comments rolled off of her, she’d pick herself up and dust herself off with a smile before getting back to doing whatever made her happy but currently, she was in the arms of her beloved who was struggling to hold her back. Your shoulders sag you bite your tongue before walking calmly over making sure to place yourself directly in-between her and Alastor “you know what you’re right he is insufferable, everything I say seems to fly over his head, it’s infuriating!!” She yells angrily out of nowhere. 

You nod without saying a word knowing she wouldn’t be finished she yells some more until she couldn’t anymore, she slumps against Vaggie having worn herself out “Hon, why don’t you go out for a bit maybe take Angel with you? It’ll calm you down you’ve been cooped up in here for days some fresh air ought to make you feel better” Vaggie suggests you nod “yeah, Charlie, go and take some time for yourself, we’ll be fine, take Niffty too she deserves a break she’s been working super hard these past few weeks I’m sure it’ll be nice for her to get out for a while” you add catching Vaggie’s eye she nods in agreement. 

Charlie seems to hesitate “But what about you?” She asks unsurely, her eyes flit over your injured form filled with worry when she finally meets your gaze you smile wide “don’t worry, I’ve got Vaggie and Husk what more could I ask for?” You reply genuinely Husk puffs his chest out proudly you struggle not to giggle at his antics “Well, I’ll tell you what, how about Niffty and I go out today and then tomorrow you, Angel, Husk and Vaggie can go shopping?” She suggests. 

Vaggie, Husk and you glance at each other before nodding Charlie grins “Great!” She exclaims before adding “I’m gonna go find Niffty we’ll see you guys a little later, bye!” She yells running down the hallway. Your shoulders sag you turn to see that Alastor was gone, there was no trace that he was even stood behind you. You could only assume that he had retreated to his room you sigh feeling vexed. 

“What is it?” Vaggie asks tentatively gently gripping your shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze as if to tell you it was okay you shake your head “I need to get changed into something more comfortable but all of my clothes have been disappearing, my pyjamas are gone, save for a few nightgowns that I haven't worn yet, I think I know where they are but I’ll be damned if I have to speak to him just to get my things back” you huff. 

Vaggie was confused for a moment until she realized exactly what you were saying, you thought that Alastor might be stealing your clothes?! Fucking creep! This is exactly why she didn’t trust men!! “You want me to kick his ass for you?” She asks sincerely you let slip a tiny laugh and she grins you hadn’t done that in a while it was nice. You shake your head “Nah I’ll deal with it when I’m ready, right now I just wish he’d learn what the meaning of 'leave me alone'” you reply staring wistfully down the hallway. 

You separate from the others to find Angel, Vaggie and Husk had decided it would be a good idea to take the rest of the day off and watch a movie in the lobby, you were gonna make a little nest down there with cosy blankets and soft pillows, maybe get some snacks. You also knew that Angel had some comfy clothes you could borrow just for the time being. 

You knock on his bedroom door, from within you hear a muffled ‘come in’ you enter without having to be told twice. His room was as tidy as always, he looks up to see who had bothered him and smiles when he notices that it's you “Hey, shortie, how ya’ doin’?” He asks he’s led on his front on his bed, Fat Nugs is trotting over to you happily you crouch down to pet the cute little pig tilting your head up to look at Angel “I’m good, Husk, Vaggie and I are gonna watch movies in the lobby, with snacks and blankets wanna join?” You offer standing back up and the pig trots back over to the bed. 

Angel swings his legs around to stand up as well he stretches his arms, both pairs, up before replying “Sure, toots, sounds good, lemme change into something comfy, you wanna borrow an onesie?” He asks heading over to his closet you nod “yes please, thanks, Angel” He blows a raspberry at your ‘thanks’ he was never very good at taking other people's appreciation it made him feel awkward sometimes. 

He throws you a onesie with bunny ears when you lift it up to inspect it, it becomes clear that it’s a patchwork rabbit, it was pink and black, which is very Angel, and on the hood, there were two rabbit ears one of which had rings through it, looking like piercings. One of the eyes was a stitched X shape and the other was a bright pink button. All in all, it was adorable. 

You close Angel’s door behind you and start to undress slipping on the onesie when Angel turns back around, he wolf-whistles making you blush, you rush to get the zipper done up before shoving your fists indignantly into the pockets provided. He laughs obnoxiously “Don’t be shy, toots, you’ve got a rockin’ bod!” He compliments you roll your eyes trying to curve your embarrassment “just get dressed Angel” you sigh. 

He shrugs and pulls on his rather scandalous pyjamas that literally might as well be lingerie, before shrugging on an almost see-through mesh dressing gown “Right, let’s go knock ‘em dead, babes!” He exclaims you have to admit he did look rather good, he was rocking his...lack of clothing, and you had honestly never been more comfortable in your life, the inside of the onesie was fleece-lined it was so soft and warm. 

You both rush to leave the room with your arms filled with blankets, Angel was struggling with pillows, he kept dropping them every two seconds you found it hilarious in all honesty “Hey, babes, where's Chucks and that weird-ass cyclone? Aren’t they joining us?” He asks, before huffing in frustration you look back, your halfway down the left corridor leading to the lobby stairs and he’s dropped the pillows again. You giggle quietly to yourself “Nah, Charlie and Niffty went out for a bit, it’s a long story she got all mad at a certain Radio Demon and Vaggie and I suggested that she take a break.” 

That was the shortened version, he pulls a face before picking up all the pillows again, struggling to keep them in his arms even though he had plenty of them you scoff looking at him “What?!” He asks in exasperation you laugh loudly looking down at the all the blankets in your arms “Angel, I only have one set of arms and even I’m not struggling half as much as you are!” You exclaim through laughter. He sticks his tongue out at you like a child before replying “yeah, yeah, whatever, let’s just get going.” 

You two eventually reach the lobby and see Husk and Vaggie already sorted, they’ve put snacks on individual trays surrounding a multitude of blankets and pillows, which just so happened to be surrounding one of the sofas, the TV was all set up and apparently, they’d already picked a movie the title screen was waiting for them to make a selection your eyes light up at the choice in movie. You catch Vaggie’s eye “Coraline?” You ask excitedly she nods with a large smile “Husk’s never seen it and I’m willing to bet neither has Angel” you squeal excitedly you’d seen this movie when it came out on the big screen and it had freaked you out, but you’d loved every second of it. 

You rush down the steps, actually, technically you stumble the entire way down in your rush to get to the others, it was a scary experience and you don’t wish to repeat it ever! You scatter the blankets around and Angel starts passing out pillows for everyone, there were spares for those who chose to sit on the floor, which just so happened to be you and Husk, while Angel and Vaggie snuggled up on the sofa behind you both. 

The movie starts and you’re overwhelmed with memories of watching this movie, it was one of Mikes’ favourites and therefore one of yours too. You were in love with the gothic theme of it, you lean into Husks side snuggling up to his arm you whisper “I love this movie” he glances down at you and grins before giving you and oddly slow blink “you watched it when you were alive then I’m guessing?” He asks quietly taking a sip of his beer. Because of course, the raging alcoholic was going to be drinking the whole time. You nod against his fur ruffling it a bit. 

Upstairs, Alastor was sat in a high back chair, hands clasped together, legs delicately crossed at the knee. He was sat at his desk, thinking, writing and occasionally scribbling over what he wrote, he’d tried multiple ways of trying to get you to talk to him. Today had been one of his last ideas he was sure it would have infuriated you enough to at least yell at him, but no you were as quiet as ever. 

As stubborn as ever, he thinks in frustration, he’d tried everything, and it either didn’t work or you’d find a way around it or, even more annoyingly, others would come to your rescue. He simply hated this silent treatment, he wanted you to talk to him even if it was just to yell at him, to tell him what a terrible demon he was, at least you’d be talking to him. He couldn’t stand the silence any more, not to mention he hated not being sat around a table with you. 

And he hadn’t failed to notice that you had gotten far skinner since the last time you’d eaten together; you barely ate when you spoke and now, he never sees you eating and on the odd occasion that you do you never eat enough. It’s one of the reasons why he’d been checking in on you constantly because he’d be on edge all the time worrying about you collapsing, he’d been offering you food left and right which you blatantly, yet silently, refused. 

He sighs pinching the bridge of his nose, he was sure that his other plan would work eventually, after all, how long would you be able to go without your most-worn clothes? He could hear you down there, laughing enjoying yourself for a short period of time it irritated him. Now that you weren’t talking with him you had become increasingly close to Husker and the cat demon knew it was getting under his skin. 

Husker could hug you, talk to you, eat with you, hold you whenever he wanted and you wouldn’t object what did that infuriating cat demon have that he didn’t?! His eyes locked onto his bedroom door as if he could see you through it. He stands from his seat elegantly brushing himself down, I think that enough alone time for one day, he thinks leaving his room, he saunters down multiple hallways and stairways all the way down to the lobby. 

Passing by numerous paintings of the Magne family, when he finally reached the lobby, he saw you all settled under blankets in front of the TV watching some silly movies but what caught his eye the most was you cuddling up to Husk. It made his chest hurt he held a hand up to press against it as if trying to suppress the feeling. But, of course, how could he when the object of those feelings was sat in front of him and was causing him pain unknowingly? The light from the fire that was crackling away in the fireplace had bathed your face in a warm glow making it appear flushed with life. 

You looked so stunningly beautiful every time he saw you it took his breath away a little more, seeing you getting closer to everyone but him was causing him more pain than he’d like to admit his chest hurt enough when he wasn’t near you, hence pestering you constantly it relieved the pain just a little, but to see you getting close to the others it caused feelings to stir in him that he didn’t even know he was capable of feeling, jealousy, being one of the few. 

He takes a deep breath removing his hand from his chest and instead clasping his hands together behind his back he walked down the stairs still taking in your appearance while you were still looking relaxed and happy. You were wearing a black and pink outfit that covered you from head to toe. Looking much like a rabbit that had been patched up far too much he couldn’t even tell that you had your own ears and tail in that outfit, had your skin not been green he would have thought a human had found their way here. 

He couldn’t help but think that you looked awfully sweet though, he couldn’t make up his mind about whether or not he liked it. He looked up to the TV his attention shifting to what could possibly have you so captivated that you hadn’t noticed his presence yet. He pauses in his advance for a minute in shock, this movie was highly inappropriate was it not? No doubt it was a movie, though he’d never seen it before, it looked to be something Angel greatly enjoyed. He shook his head turning to look at you again. 

Men simply shouldn’t wear fishnet stockings and corsets, or makeup for that matter, and what on earth is a transvestite? Why does he keep singing about it? Honestly, you should be reading, expanding your mind not watching this drivel! Yet, you looked as though you were enjoying yourself. He sighs quietly before straightening up and making the rest of the way to your group. 

You’d watched a few movies now, each of you taking turns it was Angels turn and he watched to watch another movie that he’d been dying to watch but never got around to. “I can’t believe you’ve never seen this movie, Vaggie!” You exclaim, the _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ was a must-see in your opinion Vaggie laughs “yeah, Frank-N-Furter must be so unhappy with me right now!” She jokes you giggle Angel tuts “I look far better in make-up than he does!” He exclaims Vaggie nods with a serious expression “oh yeah you should see him when he’s all dolled up!” 

Your little slice of happiness is ruined by the approach of a certain Radio Demon “My, isn’t this a cosy little gathering you’ve got here” he states, his eyes darting about the little nest you’d all made, looking up at him, you notice that although he was trying to appear put together and relaxed, there were actually deep, dark bags under his eyes, his hair looked messed up and his smile looked strained. You frown the front of his suit looked a little tattered as well like he’d been pulling at it or something. 

It didn’t suit him, this new untidy look whatever distance the two of you had accumulated must not be agreeing with him. The fault was entirely his own but seeing him like this you nearly felt sorry for him, nearly, his eyes weren’t even glowing like they used to they just looked normal, as normal as they could get when they were different shades of red. 

Husk sighs next to you “What do you want now? You insufferable prick, what was injuring her not enough? Now you’ve got to harass her while she’s resting!” Your eyes widen, you had a feeling if the situation didn’t start defusing right now a fight would break out like it always seemed to whenever Charlie wasn’t here. You swallow thickly hoping for a miracle and by that, you hoped that Alastor wouldn’t piss off Husk by opening his mouth, though at this point that seemed like you were asking for too much. 

You get up from your curled-up position on the floor and sigh deciding to leave them to it you wander into the kitchen unaware of the eyes the followed your movements with subtle curiosity. The kitchen was particularly cold today you absentmindedly touch the bandage on your forehead, your head had been throbbing painfully since the incident but you’d run out on painkillers so you were just going to have to make do, you grab a bottle of water from the fridge. 

You stare at the clear plastic bottle for a minute, you haven’t spoken to Alastor since you found out he’d poisoned you; you’d hoped that by giving him the stink eye he’d eventually get the message and leave you alone but actually he’d just been annoying you more. Honestly, it was taking more effort on your part to keep your mouth shut than it would if you just treated him like your boss and nothing more. Maybe offering him simple replies would get him to back off a bit? Although there’s also the risk that he could cling to the attention you give him but you doubted it. 

Alastor was an Overlord, you really doubted that he would cling to someone else’s attention for any reason. You crack open the bottle and take tentative sips of your water as refreshing as it was you wished it was something alcoholic. You weren’t used to drinking so much but you found yourself doing it more and more, the more time you spent with Husk the more you drank you should probably try to be a little healthier but you’re not even sure it matters all that much you are technically dead after all. 

You stroll back into the lobby in time to see Charlie and Niffty entering the hotel, Husk was still arguing with Alastor at this point Angel and Vaggie had gotten up from their positions on the sofa to take his side Alastor was still grinning be he also looked as though he were fed up with this argument now like it wasn’t providing him with enough entertainment, besides it can hardly be all that fun to be yelled at. 

You deflate well better butt in now rather than later “Hey Charlie, what did you do while you were out?” You ask wandering over to the group Charlie eyes the others suspiciously before sending you a questioning look you raise a single eyebrow and shrug “uh, we went shopping, and also me and Niffty were talking and-” she glances down at the little cyclopes, who nods, before continuing “-and we want to have a group dinner again, you know like we used to.” 

That was very out of the blue you glance around the room at the others, Husk was rubbing the back of his neck looking unsure, Angel had both sets on his hands on his hips striking some kind of sassy pose, choice in film long forgotten even as the credits were rolling. Vaggie was cradling her elbows frowning deeply and Alastor looked pleased with the notion as if he had been thinking much the same. Angel sighs “okay but we wanna negotiate a condition,” he says confidently gesturing between Husk, Vaggie and himself. 

Charlie nods enthusiastically “Sure anything!” She replies excited at the prospect that we were actually considering eating together again, Angel looked at the others, they all nod in agreement to some undiscussed plan they point at you before saying “we’ll have normal mealtimes with you guys as long as she cooks!” They say in unison rather strangely. You pull a face oh lord you were gonna be the new designated cook! “Uh...” you mumble but you don’t get the chance to form any actual words before Charlie practically jumps with joy “Deal!” 

_You blink owlishly, you were never going to catch a break..._

You force yourself not to sigh, you’d been doing that far too much instead you just mumble “I’ll get started then” you head back into the kitchen leaving the others to chat and do whatever they felt like doing. You couldn’t decide on what you wanted to cook but you ended up settling for something simple, risotto, it was easy enough and didn’t require a whole lot of thinking. Freeing up your mind to concentrate on other thoughts, most of which cantered around one particular presence in this hotel. He wasn’t even in this room and he was still annoying you, great! 

The heat from the stove was starting to make the kitchen heat up, thank Lucifer, you were nearly finished cooking the dinner so you thought that maybe now would be a good time to fetch everyone you pop your head around one of the kitchen doors, everyone was in the lobby still but it was so silent that you were starting to think that having dinner together again was a bad idea if they couldn’t even talk to each other in the lobby for a few minutes then what were they expecting it to be like sat around a small table together? 

You shake your head feeling somewhat bemused “Dinners nearly ready, do you guys wanna come sit at the table now?” You call out, funnily enough, they all practically race to the table, but it wasn’t like all of them were eager to eat together again, it was more like they were eager to get this over with and you couldn't agree more. You had your back turned to the table still cooking, it wouldn’t take long to finished but in this tense atmosphere, it felt as though it were taking forever. 

You’d never wanted to leave a situation so much in all your life you finally finish cooking and start plating up and hand out the dishes, chatter was finally starting up at the table with Niffty and Alastor chatting away about work, and the others complimenting the smell of the food. Once everyone is sat with a dish in front of them you finally take the only seat at the table, you don’t even hesitate you just start eating, though rather slowly. 

“This is delicious as always, hon” Vaggie compliments with a slight smile, you two had become much closer over the past four weeks it was nice having someone you could truly rely on, and she always had your back no matter what and no whenever she did the food, shop, which was no longer as often as it was before you arrived, she was finally able to take someone with her, most of the time it was you. However, the hotel would still end up a state if you were both gone for too long. 

You also seemed to find it to be rather painful to be away from the hotel for long periods of time, your chest would constrict and you’d have to return home quickly and even then, it only eased up a little. “Okay, I have some exciting news for everyone” Charlie announces the table turns quiet, whatever slight chatter that had taken place completely stopped now that she had everyone’s attention she continues “we’re coming up to Christmas soon and I couldn’t help but think it would be great for the hotel if we threw the Christmas party this year!” 

Your heart just about stopped, Angel and Niffty were all for it getting excited and chatty instantly agreeing, Husk looked completely indifferent, Vaggie was glad that Charlie was furthering the hotel after the horrible news announcement. Alastor thought smiling hadn’t said a word and you...you weren’t sure what to feel, meeting more demons meant that there would be a likely chance that you would make enemies and if you were honest you were a little scared. 

Not to mention that if it were as big a party as you were expecting it to be then you had no doubt other Overlords would be attending, such as Charlie’s parents, Lucifer and Lilith, what if they didn’t like you? You knew that there had to be others too and it was a little too much for you to think about right now, you were so lost in thought that you hadn’t realised that the others were talking to you until you heard Alastor calling your name, not calling you dear or ‘little fox’ but your actual name your head jerks up to look at him in surprise before you glance around the table finally coming to your senses. 

“You look awfully pale, is everything alright, dear?” He asks, and there it was that concerned tone you’d been hearing him use much more recently it made you want to reply, this was childish you couldn’t ignore him forever you take a deep breath closing your eyes and when you release it you reply “I’m fine” you open your eyes slowly you don’t fail to notice his slightly shocked expression when you eventually turn to face Charlie you realize you’re the only one who hasn’t given her any feedback on her idea “that sounds great Charlie, are you planning on it being formal dress or is fancy dress more your style?” You ask with a slight smirk, teasing. 

She smiles “As much as I’d love to do fancy dress, I think formal would suit the occasion more” you nod in agreement and for the rest of the mealtime you listen to her planning this event while suffering silently to yourself. For once Angel had offered to help Niffty with the dishes, you supposed that maybe he felt bad for roping you into being the designated cook for the time being. But As the others started to filter out of the kitchen, with Charlie and Vaggie going to bed and Husk going to drink some more. 

You felt like just walking, seeing where your feet might carry you without giving them a direction to go in specifically, you lost yourself in thoughts of worry over this whole party ordeal before you realized you’d come to a stop outside of the Library. You eye the door; it’s opened a crack and a slight slither of warm light was escaping from the room out into the dim corridor you peek inside to see that the mess from earlier had been cleaned up and Alastor was now sat in a high back chair in his usual pose reading a book. 

You may have been hoping that this room would be empty you haven’t spent any time in here at all yet and you were simply dying to find out what books they had to offer well maybe it wouldn’t hurt to simply look for a book and take it to your room to read you can always bring it back when you’ve finished. You just have to hope that Alastor doesn’t make this difficult for you. You steel your nerves finally making up your mind you open the door the movement of which is more than enough to catch his attention. 

You freeze under his gaze, it’s not like you were afraid but the look he was giving you was crossed between shocked and almost tender and yet he managed to look concerned at the same time you swallow thickly you think about backing out slowly but you were already so close, all you have to do is find a freaking book. Neither of you speak and it almost feels awkward and you secretly wonder if his stomach feels as fluttery as yours does, however, you fail to notice that your chest wasn’t hurting half as much in here. 

You bite your lower lip wringing your hands together you walk tentatively from your place at the door over to one of the bookcases your eyes carefully searching the shelves your fingers dancing at the edges unconsciously occasionally pulling out a book that looks interesting before you spot something that you had read before, _The Picture of Dorian Grey,_ you pluck the book from its place it had a hardback, black cover and lovely script. You open the book turning back toward the door, you glance to the left. 

Alastor had gone back to his book but his body was stiff as a board, you sigh you didn’t want to leave this room it was cosy and warm you hear a loud snap that echoes through the room and suddenly a high back chair very similar to the one that Alastor was currently sat in has appeared in front of you. It was beautiful the padding was a deep black velvet and the frame was a lovely silver, there was a thick blanket folded up on the seat. 

“I do not want you to feel as though you cannot stay in a room you so obviously wish to stay in, there is no reason why we cannot both enjoy the comfort of this room while in the same presence of each other, my dear” he mumbles not lifting his head from his book, you were surprised that something like that could come from someone as argumentative as him you glance at the seat once more, you couldn’t deny that if for no other reason the lack of pain was definitely an upside to staying. 

“Thanks” you whisper picking up the blanket and draping it over yourself as you sit his head has never shot up so fast you cross your legs and open your book reading silently and for once it didn’t feel stifling it was comfortable, but you find yourself glancing up at Alastor once again, there’s this huge tome in his lap curiosity was getting the better of you as much as you wanted to bite your tongue you couldn’t “can I ask what you’re reading?” You question quietly. 

He looks up at you through thick lashes before raising a single eyebrow before eyeing the book in his lap, were you really making conversation with him? And all he had to do was summon a chair and a blanket? He was thoroughly confused by you, you were a complete enigma to him he looks back up into your bright green eyes, eyes that were still curiously awaiting an answer he clears his throat “H.P Lovecraft, dear, I rather doubt you will have heard of him” he replies. 

Your eyebrows jut upward “He’s one of my favourite authors actually, he’s been named one of the best horror writers of his time, I couldn’t agree more” you correct him feeling surprised that he was reading a large book filled with a collection of your favourite authors' works. Alastor has never been more thrilled to know that someone else was a fan of such great literary work and he was even more thrilled to know that you enjoyed his writing. 

“Can I read that when you’re finished with it?” You ask politely somehow it feels like everything is going back to normal as if all this shit never happened. He smiles it’s genuine and you know that because his whole face lights up “I can read some to you right now if you’d like, dear?” He offers you close your book you attention now solely on him, you suppose you’d rather he be reading a book to you than tipping bookcases over onto you. You were gonna have to talk to him about that at some point. 

You nod placing your book to the side on a table, you curl up and listen intently as Alastor starts to read, pulling the blanket up over your shoulder you yawn while you listen you fail to notice that in your tired state the static had completely disappeared and you let the sound of Alastor’s voice lull you into a dreamless sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya it's chapter 14, this has been a long time coming and I'm so sorry about the wait after going through and editing this story it took me a while to get back on track but hopefully, we'll be back to the usual updates now, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for being so patient with me!! :D


	15. Merry Christmas!...Oh? Alastor’s Drunk!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the day of the Christmas party, over the past few weeks you’d faced more pain than ever, even though you and Alastor were on a talking basis he’d still been irritating you but recently it had been happening less and less, shock horror he’s actually been working!! Now you just have to hope this party goes okay and that nothing screws it up for Charlie. Shouldn’t be too difficult, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any idea how tall Velvet is I'd love to know! Please comment if you know how tall she might be so I can amend her height in this chapter thank you!

Ever since that night when Alastor had read to you, everything seemed to settle down a little, though he still made it his absolute mission to annoy the heck out of you, but it seemed less like he was doing it on purpose and more like he was getting clingy which you had been hoping wouldn’t be the case, however, he hasn’t tried to hurt you again since the last time with the bookcase. You shudder at the thought. 

Today was Christmas day and, honestly, you found it strange that demons celebrated it but you weren’t going to complain, your father wasn’t hugely into Christmas when you were alive, the only thing he enjoyed was the food, that you fucking cooked, nay, that you slaved over! You shake your head thinking back to the past few weeks leading up to the party Charlie and Vaggie had been extra busy planning and decorating to their liking, you and Niffty had been rushed off your feet cleaning, honestly, your feet were aching. _And you still weren’t getting any solid sleep!_

Husk had to go shopping for alcohol to stock up the bar for the guests, and Alastor had actually been productive, so productive that you’d barely seen him for the past three weeks, not even during the night times when you’d gone to the Library after dinner in order to relax after a full day of cleaning. You had both made a bit of a routine of sitting peacefully in the library and reading, well technically he’d be reading that huge tome and you’d fall asleep in the same chair every night, your chest had been in a bit more pain than usual but you had dismissed it. 

You’d made a point in working extra hard just so you could fall asleep because if you didn’t you felt that maybe after a while of spending time with him, he’d worm his way back into your life without even trying, your strange relationship with him was still a little dysfunctional and ruined, but you were hoping that maybe you’d both get past it with enough time. You smirk, remembering that your clothes and other personal items had started showing up in your room one by one the day after he’d read to you. 

_What a coincidence._ You’d brought it up with Vaggie and the others they thought it was just as amusing as you did. Although, they had all told you that you should be careful, even though they had started falling into their past relationship with Alastor, meaning that they weren’t as strained, and you had yet to feel comfortable enough to slip into that same routine. You hadn’t seen much in the way of Alastor showing up while you were working. You weren’t sure what he’d been doing for the past three weeks but it had kept him awfully busy. 

“Toots!” Your head shoots up to look at Angel in shock he’s stood in front of you in a floor-length pink dress and some weird red fluffy...feathered?...scarf? Wrapped around his shoulders you shake your head in the realization that you’re sat in a dress shop picking up the dresses that Charlie had insisted you all got custom made, you were sat on a lilac sofa next to Vaggie, Charlie and Niffty, the minute the five of you had walked into the shop Angel had insisted on being the first to try his outfit on. 

It seems the other girls had given their opinion on his outfit already but he was waiting for you, and you had been too lost in your own thoughts that you’d completely forgotten where you were. You blink a few times before gasping “Sorry Angel I was lost in thought, you look incredible, you're gonna put us all to shame!” You exclaim enthusiastically he grins satisfied with your answer he quickly rushes off to get changed next up was Niffty who had asked for a lovely hot pink, sparkly, knee-length dress much like the one she wore all the time. It had a yellow bow tied around her slim waist. 

She looked very cute, she twirled around a few times before rushing off to get changed once again, Vaggie had asked for an elegant, floor-length, lavender, satin dress with off the shoulder straps she looked very feminine and Charlie really seemed to like it. It was Charlie’s turn next her dress was a bit shorter than Vaggie’s, stopping just below the knees, it had white accents and the base colour was a lovely dusty rose, it brought out the cute red spots on her cheeks and complimented her pale white skin, the four of you sat on the sofa were all gasps and squeals, racing over to her to admire her dress close up. 

You were last stepping into the changing room the shop owner was a proud-looking peacock demon yet she was very kind and offered to help you in to your dress, it was a lovely grey since you were already so many bold colours you didn’t want to risk overdoing it by going for a colourful dress not to mention that not a lot of colours are going to compliment green skin. You roll your eyes; you seem to be poking fun at yourself constantly now. 

Your dress was, as previously mentioned, grey but that wasn’t all, it was a vintage style with off the shoulder straps, similar to Vaggie’s, it had white lace appliques and a tulle A-line with a sweep train. It looked gorgeous on and you had no doubt that if you styled your hair just right, you’d feel like a cottage princess or something along those lines. You take a deep breath before stepping out of the changing room to face the others, “Holy shit toots!” Angel exclaimed choking on a sip of his wine. The wine that you’d all been offered for free, so of course, he was taking it. 

You laugh nervously looking down at the dress, you’d been afraid when you picked it out that it would have been a bit too much but, of course, they all loved it “it suits you, hon, really brings out your eyes” Vaggie adds you smile brightly showing off sharp canine teeth. You rub your left arm with your right hand occasionally running your nails over the surface of your skin lightly “I’m gonna need help lacing up the back...” you trail off turning around Angel scoffs “that’s easy, I got ya’ babes, but only if ya’ zip me up, ya’ get me?” He offers you laugh and nod, it looks as though you’ll be getting ready with Angel. 

Charlie stands abruptly “Right, that’s the dresses sorted, time to go get shoes!” She squeals excitedly Vaggie shakes her head in bemusement at her lover's antics and after quickly changing you all scurry off to multiple shoe shops trying to find the perfect shoes. You had simply picked up grey satin heels with a slight peep toe, they were high but not high enough to make the sweep train on the dress look awkward. In fact, Vaggie, Charlie and Niffty had picked out their shoes almost immediately but Angel was having trouble he wanted heeled shoes but nothing that would make him appear too tall. 

_Fat chance!_

It took him about an hour to find a decent pair and the rest of you had gotten sick of looking around at this point, not to mention Charlie was eager to get back to the hotel to make sure Alastor and Husk were sorted for the party. When you all arrive back at the hotel you can see that Alastor has definitely been a busy bee, the outside of the hotel no longer looked daunting, or decrepit. It looked welcoming and sophisticated, it had a whole new paint job and the old decking looked as though it had been ripped up and replaced with something more stylish. 

Charlie gasped in utter delight speeding up to the hotel to admire it, you all dove out of the car the minute it came to a halt. Yep, the outside looked immaculate he’d really outdone himself you smile, so he really had put in a lot of effort to make this work for Charlie. You all glance at each other in pure amazement Vaggie although amazed and obviously ecstatic was also looking slightly worried “What’s wrong, Vaggie? Don’t you like it?” You ask noticing the strained expression on her face her eyes widen in horror and she shakes her head rapidly. 

“No, no, I do it’s great, far better than I could have imagined I’m just wondering at what price this is coming at, though he hasn’t been that much of an ass lately Alastor is still the demon that does nothing this extravagant for free” when she put it that way you could understand why she was worried. But for tonight you all had to forget about that, you all already had so much on your plates. You all walk in talking about the party and about some of the guests that would be attending apparently although there was a Christmas party every year it wasn’t as big as the Halloween and New Year's parties. So, there wouldn’t be too many people crowding into the hotel tonight. 

In the lobby was Alastor and Husk talking at the bar, seemingly relaxing a bit before having to get dressed they turned to look at us and Alastor beamed, though he looked utterly exhausted, there were dark bags under his eyes, his skin had taken on a paler tone and he looked about ready to collapse “Ah, I do hope everything went well while you were out, my dear” He says directly to Charlie who immediately jumps up and down in delight. She rushes up to the bar dragging Vaggie with her. 

Although Alastor was listening to the demon princess who was chattering on about the shopping trip his eyes had wandered over to your tired looking form and for once he couldn’t help but relate, he’d been so busy that past three weeks he hadn’t been able to see you on the nights like he usually would and therefore he’d been in a quite a bit more pain than usual, he’d hoped that it wouldn’t be as bad but after three weeks of not seeing you he couldn’t help but take in your appearance in great detail as if he were reminding himself of what you looked like. 

You had a rather large dress bag in your arms and a much smaller bag in your left hand he found himself wondering what you’d be wearing to the party tonight, he was rather excited to be perfectly honest it’s not every day that you all get dressed up after all. Your eyes catch his and for a minute he feels as though he has stopped breathing, he feels like scoffing at himself no matter how tired you look, how dishevelled you may be, you always seemed to take his breath away with a single look and you hadn’t even changed into your outfit for the night he had a feeling he was going to be blown away by you. 

He’s almost sure that you’re assessing his appearance, he really hoped he didn’t look too untidy, after all, he prides himself on being tidy and put together at all times but he was sure that you could see straight through that at the best of times, he feared that maybe it made you think less of him and you already thought so little of him, he didn’t want to make it worse. He watches as a small sympathetic smile graces your features and he returns it tiredly before watching as Angel links one of his arms with yours and drags you toward the stairs, he didn’t even have the energy to feel annoyed about it. 

Angel hurriedly drags you off to your room “Okay toots, take a shower and then bring your stuff to my room and we’ll get sorted in there” he commands before slinking off down the corridor back to his own room. You shake your head with an amused smile a shower did sound really appealing by now, you walk into your room hanging up the dress, inside the bag, up on the door to the closet and pulling the shoes out of the bag and place them directly under the dress. 

You sigh kicking off your black ballet flats and stripping out of your red jumper-dress and black thermal leggings you walk into the bathroom running the shower. You step in and the hot water has never felt better than it does today, you loud out a pleased hum, rubbing your tense shoulders, lathering shampoo into your hair you can’t help but be lost to your thoughts again. You hoped that this went well for Charlie especially since her parents were going to be here, that thought alone was enough to cause nerves to well up in the pit of your stomach. 

You shake your head mumbling to yourself “Shut up, you’ll be fine besides they’re not there for you they’re there for Charlie, they probably won’t even remember your name by the end of the night, relax!” You scold yourself for thinking in such a way, you can’t afford to be nervous on a night where Charlie needs everyone to be at their best. You rinse the shampoo from your hair and continue your shower in a less than blissful state. 

After your shower you shove on some pyjamas and grab your dress and shoes before stumbling the entire way to Angel’s room, you knock on the door rather loudly and hear Angel call to you from the other side “Come in toots!” You don’t hesitate walking straight in Angel is stood in weird-ass underwear, and honestly, the sight doesn’t even surprise you anymore. You giggle he’s already got his shoes on and he’s beckoning you with a single finger, his fingernails freshly painted the same pink as his dress, he’d told everyone that he’d be dressing in drag for the party, no one but you and Vaggie believed him. 

In fact, both you and Vaggie had suggested it you sit at the vanity and let him get to work on your hair drying it and then curling it which took an extremely long time due to the length you’d thought about getting it cut but Angel had thrown an absolute fit when you mentioned it to him, he starts pinning your hair up with silver hairpins some of them were plain and some of them had silver metal flowers on them to match your dress. 

“Okay toots, turn around so I can do your makeup and then we can get dressed,” he says with excitement lighting up his odd coloured eyes. You smile “If you could make me look less tired that would be great” you reply, sarcasm lacing your tone he scoffs “babes, I could make ya’ look like a whole different demon if I wanted to, but nah, that’s too much effort, ya’ know?” He starts digging out makeup brushes from his vanity while you sit patiently chatting away about what the parties are usually like. 

Angel had explained to you much earlier in the month that these parties could be very extra depending on where they’re held and who was hosting them, and because Charlie was hosting it probably wouldn’t get too out of hand which had settled your nerves greatly. He made sure not to go overboard with your makeup keeping it simple “You’re already looking like a masterpiece, don’t touch it!” He exclaims slapping your hand away as you were about to reach up to itch your nose. 

You pout, twitching your nose to relieve the itch, you stand from the vanity stool. He gently pulls your dress from the bag while handing you your shoes, you put those on first and for once Angel’s height doesn’t seem too staggering you smile up at him, yes, he was still far taller than you but now it didn’t feel dramatic he rolls his eyes in amusement before tutting holding your dress open with his first set of arms, he uses his second set of arms to hold you steady as you tentatively step into it. He pulls the dress up and around you and starts lacing up the back tightening it so that it was secure but not so tight that you couldn’t breathe. 

Due to the corset-like nature of the bodice it cinched your waist in making you look even skinnier than you actually were “Jeez, bitch, you might as well be a bag of bones, how are you so skinny!?” He yells in annoyance you smirk; you’d always been skinny no matter how much you ate you had put it down to a high metabolism. Once he was finished helping you it was your turn to return the favour. Helping him step into his dress and zipping up the back was far easier. 

He takes a minute to smooth himself over before looking at you with a wicked grin you pull a confused face wondering what he had planned “And now for the finishing touch!” He quickly leaves the bedroom scurrying to the bathroom and when he emerges again, he’s wearing a wig that looks extremely realistic, it was long, wavy and platinum blonde with a black sparkly looking hair accessory pinning back one side so that the hair would stay behind his right shoulder whereas on the left side the hair was free to fall forward elegantly. 

You clap your hands together in a one-woman applause “Bravo, Angel if this doesn’t get Husk’s attention, I don’t know what will!” You laugh he grins strutting over, he links an arm with yours “right, let’s go knock ‘em dead, babes!” He exclaims before practically dragging you through the hotel to the lobby the others were already there, all dressed to the nines. Husk looked extremely smart in his stylish suit even if he did look grumpier than ever Charlie and Vaggie looked gorgeous together. 

Charlie’s hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with red roses pinned around the hair tie she wore a black choker and a gold necklace under that, Vaggie’s hair had been curled and styled in a way that it all fell over her left shoulder, tonight she was lacking her pink bow and was wearing a simple silver bracelet and Niffty had a cute black headband in her hair to compliment her dress. Angel hurried over to Husk immediately flirting with him, you smile before taking a deep breath and cautiously descending down the lobby stairs your eyes were searching for one missing demon. 

You frown until you notice him swiftly leaving the kitchen, his suit was red of course, but it wasn’t like the one he wore all the time, it wasn’t jagged looking and he lacked his usual coat, now he was wearing a tailcoat and white shirt, the pants were very similar as were the shoes leading you to believe that maybe those hadn’t changed at all and yet he looked entirely different. He always looked dapper but this was different it was smart and formal, it suited him, and it made your heart clench. 

Alastor had finished changing a while ago, having showered and gotten a small amount of energy back, enough to last him through the party. He wandered slowly through the halls listening for you, he could hear you chattering in Angel’s room that damn spider must be helping you get dressed, he hoped that he wouldn’t ruin you, by unnecessarily forcing makeup on you, you didn’t need it. He shakes his head speeding up his pace he jogs down the Lobby steps noticing that Husker was already finished “Charlie’s looking for you in the kitchen” Husk states. 

He nods walking in to see what she wanted turns out she just needed help setting out the food before the guests started arriving which he was happy to attend to. He’d been setting everything out for a good few minutes and once he’d finished, he checked around the kitchen to make sure nothing was missed, before leaving the kitchen lost in his own thoughts. 

He raised his head and noticed that Angel was stood at the bar harassing Husk, as usual, he quirked a brow at the effeminate fellows' attire, deciding to simply ignore him if Angel was finished then you must be as well his eyes started to search the lobby, Charlie, Vaggie and Husk were staring at the lobby stairs he turned to follow their gaze and there you were. His heart nearly stopped a second time, he couldn’t have picked out anything better himself, the grey dress brought out all of the colours you had naturally. 

It really heightened what already made you beautiful, your eyes had never seemed brighter, your hair was pinned up off of your shoulders you were, in his opinion, the picture of radiance and definitely without a doubt the loveliest looking women he’d ever met and would ever meet. And it was made all the more apparent when you grinned widely, he could tell you were feeling nervous, in fact, you’d been nervous about this party the minute it had been brought up and yet you hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. 

You were determined to fight those feelings alone, he wished you would rely on him a little more, he could help he knew that but you insisted on dealing with everything by yourself. He watched on as Charlie and Vaggie rushed over to you complimenting you so much that a subtle blush bloomed on your cheeks, captivating him even more. 

Guests had been arriving for the past half an hour, the first demons that had arrived had been the two you were most nervous to meet, you’d been sat at the bar when they arrived “Mom, Dad, I’m so glad you could make it!” Charlie exclaimed at the hotel doors before stepping aside to let them in. The first to capture your immediate attention was Lilith, in all her tall, and beautiful glory, her hair was like liquid gold, she wore a long black dress that sparkled like the stars had been fashioned into the fabric itself. 

Her horns were a little shorter than they had been depicted in the paintings scattered throughout the hotel but you merely assumed at as they were part of her, she could most likely shorten them at will. She walked in gracefully followed by Lucifer, who was far shorter than she was, he was wearing this white suit and large looking white top hat that he’d been depicted wearing in every painting. You had a feeling that, like Alastor, he had multiples of the same outfit that he wore on a day-to-day basis. 

After hugging Charlie with an unsettling smile, he made a b-line toward Alastor whom he greeted like an old friend causing one of your eyebrows to raise you didn’t have time to question it because Charlie was leading her mother directly toward you making your nerves skyrocket into oblivion. Once they reach you Charlie takes it upon herself to introduce you “Mom this is one of mine and Vaggie’s good friends” she announces telling her your name with a large smile. Lilith’s eyes widen slightly, flashing over to Lucifer and Alastor before looking back at you. 

She smiles and it lights up her whole face, her white eyes held nothing but kindness “It’s so nice to meet you, Alastor has spoken of you to my husband-” She stops abruptly glancing over to Lucifer you follow her gaze Alastor, although speaking with Lucifer, was also glancing over to the both of you curiously Lilith turns back to you sighing with an amused grin “-who I’m sure will introduce himself when he’s quite finished talking the ears off of his friend.” She finishes you purse your lips together; you hope he’s just as nice as she is. 

“It’s really nice to meet you too” you reply simply, quite the conversationalist, aren’t you? You mentally smash your face into a brick wall repeatedly and after that awkward meeting, other guests had started flocking in, in small groups. Now there’s music playing you’re sat at the bar...still. The music was jazzy and lovely the kind you’d expected at a formal party like this, guests were mingling, eating food and drinking far more than they probably should. 

You had been drinking so much with Husk recently that you’d built up a bit of a tolerance so you’d had three strange concoctions and you weren’t feeling any different despite the fact that the alcohol was at a high percentage. Though they had been enough to take the edge off a little, Husk had been rather busy serving guests left and right but he’d talk with you on the odd occasion that there was no one to serve. Your eyes danced about the room, some of the demons were dressed extravagantly and some of them just looked as though they’d come for the offer of free food. 

You spot Charlie and Vaggie stood with her parents she’s waving you over, you finish off your fourth drink hoping it would act like liquid courage you walk over as calmly as possible passing by Niffty who was dancing the night away with whoever would ask her, but she looked happy. At least someone’s having fun. “Dad this the friend we were chatting about” Charlie announces as you arrive at their little group Lucifer gives you a once over before offering you a hand to shake which you take. 

He introduces himself, and while he’s talking it becomes very clear to you why Alastor and Lucifer got along so much, they were a lot alike. The similarities were actually a little disconcerting finally a tune plays that seems to capture Lilith’s attention “Ooh, dear, I haven’t heard this one in a while let’s dance” she says dragging him to the centre of the lobby. You circle the room watching them dance, no one else was dancing they were too captivated by Lilith and Lucifer moving gracefully with expertise that must have been accumulated over their centuries of being in Hell. 

You tear your eyes away to see Alastor stood at the bar with a drink in his hand watching the two dancing longingly you dodge other denizens as you try to find a clear path back to the bar, he doesn’t even notice your approach even when you’re practically pressed up against him as other’s try to make more room for the couple to dance in. He only notices you when your arm brushes against his, his eyes shoot down to look at you but you’re watching the end of their dance and as they part to bow dramatically the room applauds loudly and they make a hasty escape back toward the other side of the room and other demons resume chatting and eating. 

You hop up onto a bar stool as carefully as you can and Alastor finally turns to you fully placing his empty glass on the bar top, it forces you to wonder what he’d been drinking, he hadn’t drunk alcohol for the entire time you’d known him, Husk had told you that he was a major lightweight worse than you. For some reason, you fully believed him “You look lovely, my dear” He compliments with a genuine smile you couldn’t help the grin that spread across your face at the compliment, but it was accompanied by this feeling of shyness “thanks, you look pretty good too” you mumble in reply. 

You’d never felt more embarrassed and nervous in your life. His smile widens and it dawns on you that his static was almost none existent but you were feeling heavy pressure from someone else in the room, your ears twitch for a moment before you hear a scratchy voice your head whips into the direction of a strange-looking demon, he had a Flat-screen TV for a head, he looked about 7ft tall, and he too seemed to stick to a colour scheme he was various shades of blue with a dash of red here and there. 

His eyes were red with light blue pupils; however, his left eye had black circles in various thicknesses, and his left pupil was a squiggly shape. He wore a small top hat with red and blue designs reminiscent of a broadcasting symbol and poking out the top of it were his antennas. He was wearing a striped tuxedo and a black and red striped shirt with a red bow tie. His teeth were sharp looking and light blue, there seemed to be blood dripping from one side of his mouth. Overall, he gave you the utter creeps, Alastor seemed to notice that your attention had wandered and when he followed your eye line his posture stiffened dramatically. 

“Who’s that?” You ask fearfully, that guy was giving you major bad vibes when you didn’t receive a reply you looked up at Alastor to see that his expression had gone from a relaxed smile to grating his teeth together he was still smiling of course but it looked irritated and wrong his static had spiked up and was continuing to rise rapidly giving you an awful headache “Al?” You call timidly reaching a hand up to rub your forehead trying to ease the pain. 

He glances down at you but it almost seems as though he’s looking straight through you “Excuse me” he says monotonously before walking over to the other side of the room directly toward the demon that was currently giving you utter creeps' vibes. You turn toward the bar Husk was stood directly behind you with his eyes firmly pinned on Alastor as he spoke with the other demon “that’s Vox he’s an Overlord and Alastor’s biggest rival, because of their opposing views on technology” he explains. 

You nod absentmindedly you and Husk chat for a bit as the night gradually started to get later and later, some guests had already left talking about how refreshing the party had been because of its elegance. Alastor had spoken to Vox for a very long time before eventually walking away looking a little steamed Vox looked smug as shit you weren’t sure what had happened and you were damn sure you didn’t want to know. 

You’re interrupted from your thoughts by a velvet sounding voice “Hi there!” You turn away from the bar and stood directly behind you making you jump is a female demon around your height maybe a tad taller, she was very slim with slightly grey-brown skin. She has velvet, burgundy and white hair tied into pigtails with lace hair ties, she had white eyeliner with crimson eyeshadow which brought out her eyes, they were white with a red sclera. 

She was wearing a black, velvet and white tea-length dress with short puffed sleeves with various designs and velvet lace at the bottom, on her arms were white and velvet striped evening gloves and on her legs were black tights. On her feet were velvet flats with cute little white puffballs on the top. She looked cute but you had a feeling that you should be wary “Hi” you reply shyly hoping to at least make the first meeting with a new demon pleasant she smiles widely “I’m Velvet, what’s your name?” She asks curiously, she seems excitable like Niffty but you had a feeling that her personality could be a whirlwind of terrifying if you weren’t careful. 

You give her your name and she nods pulling a phone from seemingly nowhere “Do you have a phone? What’s your number?” She starts firing off questions that surprise you after eyeing her warily you grab your phone from behind the bar where Husk had been minding it and you both swap numbers this seems to really please her so much so that she starts looking around the room as if looking for someone in particular and while doing so she starts talking again “you should meet my friend he’d love you” she says standing on the tips of her toes to see over demons taller than her. 

But she doesn’t seem to see her friend, so she resorts to calling out their name in the hopes that they would hear her and the name she calls for makes your blood freeze in fear “VOX!” She yells like a spoilt brat throwing a temper tantrum you were immediately regretting giving her your number. Vox pokes his head up above the crowd and grins manically when he spots Velvet waving her arms in the air. It doesn’t take him long to cross the room to get to you both. 

In that same unsettling scratchy voice, he greets Velvet “Hey, doll, makin’ friends I see?” He asks eyeing you curiously she nods in reply looking quite pleased with herself she introduces you and you struggle not to shiver in fear, the look he was giving you rivalled all of Alastor’s, not once had Alastor given you a look that made your very insides churn and turn into mere matter. He holds out a slender hand for you to shake “Pleased to meet ya’, names Vox” he states with a sly grin. 

You swallow thickly you had felt uncomfortable before but this was different you honestly felt like you were in the presence of real danger. You smile politely though you were convinced that your feeling of discomfort was extremely obvious to the company you were currently in and they were probably taking pride in the knowledge. You hoped that maybe you were in the eye line of at least one of your friends preferably Vaggie or Charlie but right now you’d take literally anyone. 

“You know it’s rude that no one’s asked such a beautiful gal’ to dance, so would you do me the honour?” He asks offering you a hand to take, you didn’t want to be rude but you also really didn’t want to dance with him. This is an actual nightmare! You couldn’t possibly refuse without looking bad but if you danced with him that meant spending more time in his presence. 

You refrain from sighing as difficult as it was, you take his hand rather reluctantly and he leads you to the centre of the lobby the music was slow and lovely and most certainly didn’t fit your mood right now. You still hadn’t said a word since he’d wandered over but you couldn’t think of anything to say, not without your voice cracking under the sheer intensity of this overwhelming pressure he seemed to be shrouded in. He grins widely as you both start to dance around in a tight circle, his arm was set firmly around your slim waist causing chills to skitter up and down your spine. 

Your mouth felt dry in some ways you wished he would talk, even if it were simply to boast about himself, but you also felt like he’d expect you to talk at some point and that was terrifying. You just wanted the awkward silence to stop “Not overly talkative are ya, doll?” He asks suddenly, your eyes widen you have no idea how to reply, what are you supposed to say to that? Apparently, nothing because he starts to talk again “shy one, are ya?” He questions his eyes squint as his smile widens. 

You purse your lips “Old habits die hard, I guess” you reply attempting to shrug which was awkward when your hands were currently in use, one gripping his shoulder and the other loosely holding his hand, you felt as though you’d been dancing forever, he laughs loudly in reply, as if you had told the best joke he’d ever heard in his afterlife. 

_It seemed to capture the attention of a certain...rather drunk demon..._

Alastor had been in a foul mood the minute he’d walked away from that insufferable demon, honestly, was the technology from his era, not enough?! He saw no need for these mobile phones, or computers, and whatever this ‘social media’ was. He had spoken with Lucifer for a short while which had calmed his fried nerves “Have you not spoken with her yet?” Lucifer asks eyeing the fox who had so enamoured his friend that he’d felt the need to seek him out for advice. 

Alastor shakes his head “No, I had intended to speak to her about it the same day, but nothing ever seems to go how I picture it, especially when it comes to her” he replies eyeing you still sat at the bar looking lovely as ever he’d fully intended to ask you to dance but had gotten distracted. Late into the night and another three drinks in he had started to feel relaxed but had noticed that his cognitive thinking had become extremely impaired and slow. 

An obnoxious laugh reaches his ears and he rolls his eyes like a child, he knew exactly who that was he turns sluggishly from the bar to peer behind his right shoulder and what he sees sparks a fit of furious anger within him, you were encircled in Vox’s arms looking incredibly uncomfortable and practically begging to be saved. He didn’t like the look on Vox’s face when he looked at you. He straightened his shoulders and marched up to the both of you. 

You were sure you’d been dancing for a while now; Vox had talked for a little while about some of the things he’d done when he arrived in hell, and how he’d met Velvet and for the whole time you’d smiled politely and nodded your head on the odd occasion that you needed to. The music starts to change and Vox doesn’t make a move to let you go, for a minute you think that maybe you’re going to be dancing with him forever. 

That is until a hand grabs your left wrist in a painfully tight grip wrenching it from Vox’s shoulder you stumble harshly into someone’s chest looking up you realize that Alastor has come to your rescue but that’s not all, he looked infuriated yes, but his face was ever so slightly flushed, and he smelled strongly of alcohol. Oh, dear Lucifer, is he drunk? You think worriedly his arms were now wrapped securely around your waist holding you as close to him as you could possibly get. 

You could almost feel the contours of his chest down to his stomach, all of which was hard wiry muscle, he was slender and toned you could tell even through his clothing. Your heart was pounding, you could see Alastor gearing up to drop a whole load of word vomit out onto Vox who was only looking smugger at the fact that he’d irritated Alastor without words. “Alastor! What a pleasant surprise though you have just stolen the only other decent company I’d had the pleasure of having tonight.” 

“Listen here, you annoying little-” you gasp, Alastor is definitely drunk leading you to believe that you definitely shouldn’t let him finish that sentence “Al!” You call out your nickname for him hoping it would shift his attention and it does, he looks down at you with surprised eyes “we should just go, okay? You’ve been working hard for three weeks; you need to rest” you say trying to convince him to leave. 

He frowns locking eyes with Vox he looks as though he’s about to speak again you reach up to cup his cheek causing him to look down at you again with foggy unfocused red eyes, you meet his gaze with pleading eyes “Al, please, let’s just go” you whisper. He takes a deep calming breath nuzzling into your palm slightly before nodding, you grab one of his hands and lead him up toward the lobby stairs, catching Charlie’s eye you try to make some kind of signal that you needed a quick chat with her. 

She nods meeting you at the stairs when you stop you realize that Alastor has managed to keep an arm wrapped around your waist “What’s wrong?” Charlie asks noticing your tense form you shake your head you didn’t have time to explain right now it was late and the last thing you needed was for a drunk Alastor to start a fight with another Overlord at Charlie’s Christmas party you lean in toward her as far as you could get with Alastor’s arm still keeping you tight against him “Alastor’s a little drunk and honestly Vox is creeping the shit out of me, so I’m gonna make sure Alastor goes to bed, I’ll help you clean up after” She nods not trying to ask you any more about it. 

You walk slowly up the stairs toward Alastor’s room with him stumbling close behind you, you both walk in silence reaching Alastor’s room you swing the door open and gently take his hand from your waist leading him into the room. You send a glance over your shoulder he’d been oddly quiet for the entire walk here, usually, he’s so chatty, you wonder if, maybe, something was on his mind? “You okay, Al?” You ask casting your eyes over the room, the last time you’d been in here was with Niffty and it had sparked a series of unpleasant events. You hadn’t thought you’d find yourself back in it so soon. 

You receive a non-committal hum from the drunk Radio Demon causing you to turn and look at him fully, the dark circles under his eyes had gotten deeper and darker, surprisingly enough, he’d lost a little colour. You were worried that maybe he was getting a little sick, he’d probably drunk more alcohol tonight than he’s used to, his eyes were fixed firmly on you looking curious and a little confused as if you were the puzzling one. You purse your lips together “Come on then you need to get changed and get some sleep” you say finally turning your back to him and letting go of his hand you walk over to a chest of drawers and pull out a pair of pyjamas at random. 

Well, it felt like it was at random but had you been paying even a little bit more attention to what you were doing you would have realized that, just like with his suit he wears every day, he had multiples of the same pyjamas a silk red button-down shirt with a lighter red, silk, vertical stripes and bottoms to match you put them on the end of his bed and turn to him. You nearly laugh at the sight of him struggling to undo his bow tie. 

He could simply snap his fingers and be dressed already but you had a feeling that maybe the thought hadn’t crossed his mind just yet, you smirk and glide over to the space he was stood in “Here, Alastor, let me” you whisper you didn’t want to talk too loud and risk ruining the calm atmosphere you reach up brushing his hands away from the ruffled bow at his neck and with nimble fingers you manage to get it untied all the while he’d been tracing your features with glowing red eyes. 

Pulling the bow from the confines of his collar you look up at his face, his cheeks were still flushed, you assumed it was the alcohol, his eyes were shining brightly but they still looked hazy and unfocused and the more you stared at him the drier your mouth got and the more you felt the need to talk “Lucifer and Lilith seem nice” you blurt trying to find a topic to talk about that might pique his interest so that the atmosphere wouldn’t feel so stifling. You were finding it more difficult to breathe every time you locked eyes with him. 

Again, you receive another hum in reply, and you’re sure that had you been looking you would have seen him shrug for once in his life but as it was you had turned to neatly fold his bow tie onto his desk so that he wouldn’t lose it, you then pick up the night-shirt from his bed and turn to hand it to him. He rolls his eyes which looked strange as he was drunk his eyes hadn’t gone the full way around and he snapped his fingers and suddenly he was changed, the pyjama top in your hand was gone and his suit was folded neatly onto his desk chair. 

You blink a few times in surprise before shaking it off, you weren’t expecting him to be able to do that while drunk as a skunk and what you’d been expecting even less was for him to gather you up in his arms and carry you over to the edge of the bed where he sat with you on his lap, a tight hold around your waist and his head buried into your neck, his breathing was tickling the hairs there softly. “Al?” You question worriedly, this was very unlike him and, of course, you were chalking it up the alcohol in his system because you were doubting that the big bad Radio Demon was capable of really having a soft side but you were really curious as to what was running through his mind right now to make him do this. 

He mumbles something into your neck you could hear him talking and you could feel his lips brushing against your skin as he spoke, causing gooseflesh to raise at the feeling, but you couldn’t make out what he was saying you take a deep breath to compose yourself before speaking “I can’t hear you, Al” you hear him huff loudly and you force yourself to suppress a laugh he shifts a little his forehead was now leaning on your bare shoulder and the tip of his nose was just grazing the flesh beneath it “I should have asked you to dance” he repeats, some of the words come out a little wonky but you got the gist of it. 

He was unhappy because he hadn’t asked you to dance with him? That was a little silly to be thinking about right now, wasn’t it? Your expression becomes even more confused you try to lean back so that you could actually look at him, but the arms around your waist tighten keeping you close you sigh quietly turning your head so that he could hear you “It’s okay, Alastor, you don’t have to ask me to dance” you thought that maybe he felt bad that you’d been sat down for most of the party and that your only dance was with one of the most unpleasant demons you could have possibly met, with the exception of Val. 

He huffs again “I wanted to” he replies firmly that sentence came out a little clearer than you were expecting it to you bite your lip, chewing on it nervously, “Well, there’s always New Years?” You suggest trying to make him feel a little better, you really doubted that he’d get all worked up over something so small but you were sat in his vice-like grip and you didn’t want to risk anything, he was difficult as it was when he was sober. He lifts his head and looks you unwaveringly in the eyes “that’s too long to wait” he pouts. 

You smile, the Radio Demon was pouting at you, you wish you had a camera! You shake your head in amusement “We have the rest of the week, okay? But right now, you need to get some rest I have no doubt that you’ll wake up with a wicked hangover so the more sleep you get now the better” you coax hoping he’d let the topic pass in his drunken state, he probably wouldn’t even remember it in the morning. 

“Tomorrow?” The question comes out so fast you have to take a minute to process what he’d just asked of you, he wanted to dance with you tomorrow? You still firmly believe that he wouldn’t remember at all so you simply nod “Sure Alastor, we can dance tomorrow when we’re not busy, okay?” He nods timidly, you sure were going to miss seeing him like this, a little vulnerable and maybe even a little cute. You smirk at the thought; he’d probably have your head for thinking he was cute. 

You cup both of his cheeks and lightning-quick, with the excuse that he wouldn’t remember in the morning still rattling about in your skull, you plant a kiss on his forehead lingering there for a minute before leaning your own forehead against his “Oh, Alastor, if you could but be like this all the time...” you trail off leaving the thought unfinished and hanging in the air between you both, you caress his soft cheeks with your thumbs for a minute before getting up off of his legs. 

His arms slipped from your waist you have to ask him to lay down a few times before he eventually does as you ask you tuck him into the bed before brushing away a few strands of hair from his left cheek, he presses a clawed hand over your own nuzzling into your palm, yes you wished he could be like this all the time, he seemed far more relaxed and approachable but you knew it wouldn’t last nothing this sweet ever lasts the thought was a bit depressing you take a deep breath and whisper “Goodnight, Al, pleasant dreams.” 

You watched as his eyes slipped closed tiredly, before pulling your hand back gently and tiptoeing quietly out of the room closing the door behind you carefully. You lean against it and let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding, “If you could but be like that all the time, I could actually fall for you” you whisper to the empty hallway wistfully. You close your eyes for a long moment and when you open them again you’ve fixed the walls that had started to crumble under the weight of his soft and sweet drunk addled words. 

_You set off down the hallway your mind faraway dreaming of something that_ _you_ _were convinced would never be._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys, Chapter 15 up and ready to go, I would have uploaded it yesterday but as it was my Birthday I ended up being a little busy I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, all comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading!


	16. Alastor?...Sick?...Pffttt!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, you’d spent most of the night before helping the other’s clean up after the party, which meant you’d woken up a little on the late side...oops! What happens when you find a pale looking Alastor in the kitchen? Boy, he does not look-oh shit! He’s heavy-fucking HELP!! 

Alastor’s eyes peel open one after the other, he felt...terrible which was a change that was completely unwelcomed, his head was pounding, his mouth was dry, his throat was sore and he felt suffocatingly warm, he felt uncomfortable. He sits up in his bed and for a minute all he can see are little black dots dancing across his vision, he pinches the bridge of his nose closing his eyes briefly before opening them again and finding that they’ve stopped, he sighs getting out of bed he stumbles for a moment. 

Placing a clawed hand lightly on his bedside dressing table he frowns, that was new, even when he’d been drunk last night, he’d been able to walk without too much of a problem but now he was swaying slightly he could feel it. He straightens up, setting his shoulders, ridiculous. Stumbling, high temperatures, dizziness, these are all symptoms of sickness and he doesn’t get sick, he looks after himself far too well to get sick. 

He didn’t have time to be delayed by such thoughts he needed to go downstairs and drink something to help with his mild hangover he couldn’t possibly show his face to you if he were hungover and looking exceptionally untidy, he snaps his fingers and suddenly he’s dressed, which is followed by another wave of dizziness. He shakes his head resigning himself, I don’t get sick, he thinks stubbornly he stalks down the hallway and down multiple flights of stairs. 

He was seriously regretting picking a room so far up because getting down these stairs today, which usually doesn't present much of a problem to him, was taking far longer considering he needed to keep stopping to let the dizziness pass. When he eventually gets to the lobby Charlie, Vaggie and Niffty are already up and talking about last night, he could only imagine that Niffty had, had an amazing time. 

He couldn’t help but think that, although he’d gotten drunk and had to deal with Vox, last night had been a wonderful night, there’s no doubt that it could have been better but he’d shared such a lovely moment with you and he secretly hoped that there would be many more, he gently raises a hand to touch his forehead lightly he hadn’t expected you to kiss him and especially not so tenderly. 

He wasn’t used to being touched it had been an odd feeling but he’d also thoroughly enjoyed it, shaking off the thoughts he lowers his arm clutching his hands behind his back trying to appear as normal as possible he wanders down the lobby stairs catching Charlie’s attention, she beams at him “Hey, Al, did you sleep well?” She asks happily Vaggie was stood by her side looking as moody as ever he smiles, though it’s closed-lipped, “I slept well, dear, thank you” he replies, reaching the bottom of the stairs he felt warmer than ever. 

She frowns slightly “Are you sure, Al, you look a little pale are you sure you’re not getting sick?” She asks worriedly he clears his throat jutting his chin out slightly “I don’t get sick, my dear, I’m perfectly fine” he replies before disappearing into the kitchen despite that fact that usually, he doesn’t need it, right now he needed a drink his mouth had never been so dry before. Grabbing a glass of water, he drinks it all in a few gulps. 

Taking a deep breath, he steps away from the sink turning to lean his back against the kitchen isle he felt far dizzier now, heat was causing his flesh to burn uncomfortably under his thick clothes he loosens the bow tie at his neck feeling smothered tilting his head up to look toward the ceiling, he had no idea what was wrong with him but he could only hope that it would pass soon. 

You wake with a jolt; your alarm was blearing to itself in a desperate attempt to wake you, you’d slept in much longer than you had intended to but you were more than willing to chalk that up to the amount of cleaning you’d done last night with the others. You sit up on your left forearm rubbing your face with your right hand you chuckle slightly Husk had complained all night about how Alastor was sleeping leaving the rest of you to clean up after the party. 

But Alastor had worked so hard in the three weeks leading up to it that you couldn’t complain that much. You quickly shower and get changed into, black sweat pants a black strappy crop top and a pair of white trainers. You jog down the lobby stairs everyone baring Alastor was there, Angel was sat at the bar with Husk both of whom were nursing severe hangovers your lips quirk up into a smirk. 

You spot Charlie and Vaggie huddled on the sofa cuddling when you catch Charlie’s eye, she calls you over you smile walk up to them fully prepared to offer them a congratulations for a successful party but the words catch in your throat at Charlie’s concerned expression her eyes were pinned to the kitchen doors on the other side of the room “What’s up?” You ask raising a single eyebrow quizzically her frown deepens her black eyes land on you and for a minute she was silent. 

She takes a deep breath before speaking “Alastor came down earlier looking really pale and kinda, well, sick looking, he’s been in the kitchen a long time could you go check on him and maybe get him to go rest? I have a feeling he might be more willing to listen to you” she asks you pull a confused face crossing your arms you lean on one hip “me? Why would he listen to me?” You question, she must be out of her mind! What could possibly make her believe he’d listen to you? 

She and Vaggie share a knowing look, it was full of concern but it also looked as though they knew more than they were telling you Charlie sighs “Please? Humour me?” She asks pleadingly you huff deflating you were finding it hard to say no to anything she asked of you, you groan “okay.” You turn to walk toward the kitchen and tut loudly when you hear Vaggie laughing behind you. You push the kitchen doors open and spot Alastor leaning against the kitchen isle. 

Charlie wasn’t joking, he looked pale and sketchy, his cheeks were a little red but not glowing like they had been last night, his bow tie was loosened at his neck his jacket and shirt were unbuttoned a little looking ruffled and, dare you say it, a little attractive on him it’s not often that you get to see him looking untidy or relaxed. You shake your head, now is so not the time! 

“Al?” You call out his nickname cautiously his head turns slowly and his glowing red eyes open to look at you, they widen a little as if he was shocked to see you “you okay?” You ask taking a few steps into the room he smiles but it’s tired looking and strained “oh I’m fine, dear” he replies but you could see right through that, it didn’t help that he’d winced slightly, covering his eyes with his hand. 

You walk up to him carefully and take his hand from his face, inspecting his features, the bags under his eyes hadn’t disappeared but instead seemed to just get deeper, his face had definitely lost a lot more colour, you’d been worried last night that maybe it had been the alcohol that had made him sick but now it was becoming clear to you that maybe he really had overworked himself. His hand felt extremely warm in yours like his skin was burning. 

You’re too busy thinking to realize that the last of his energy was slipping away from him you get the surprise of your afterlife when he collapses on you his dead weight forcing you to your knees you let out a surprised yelp clutching at his shoulders to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. You look at his weak appearance with wide eyes, never had you been more worried about anyone than you were about him right now. You press the back of your hand to his forehead and gasp “CHARLIE!” You scream out in panic it doesn’t take long before the others are bursting through the kitchen doors loudly. 

Charlie’s eyes settle on you, collapsed to your knees clutching onto a passed out Alastor, who had insisted he wasn’t ill, “He’s burning up is that normal!?” You yell in panic; his breathing had become shallow. Charlie stutters over her words “Charlie!?” You yell again desperate for her to pull herself together Charlie shakes her head “No! I don’t know! I was born a demon, not made one!” She yells back, panic arising in her as well Vaggie had never gotten sick in the entire time she’d known her. 

You glance back down at the passed-out demon in your arms, he was heavy, but then again what did you expect of a 7ft tall demon? You move one of your hands to the back of his head where his hair was at its shortest and darkest, you run your fingers through his hair effectively pulling his head closer to you, you could give him props for landing mostly on his own knees, his upper body had slumped on to you and his head had landed on your shoulder. 

_He looked...peaceful...for once._

You take a deep breath before looking up at the others “I need help, we need to move him back to his room, and as twig-like as he looks, he’s actually pretty heavy” you say simply. With the help of the others, you all somehow manage to get him to his room, which by the way was fucking hard! He was now placed back in his bed under the covers, the others glance around. Apart from you, Niffty and Husk no one else had been in here it was natural for them to be curious and maybe even a little disturbed after all there was still a buck's head on one of his walls. 

“Thanks, guys, I got it from here why don’t all go and relax for a bit I’ll call if I need any help” you suggest quietly, they eye each other before leaving the room closing the door behind them. You sigh heavily your bright green eyes settle on him, his chest was rising and falling steadily you wondered how long you’d have to wait before he woke again. You sit on the edge of the bed next to his sleeping form once again your press your hand to his forehead, no wonder he’d passed out, he was running such a high fever you bet even doctors would be surprised. If hell had any that is...

Well, that’s settled then, you’re going to be taking care of the demon that, poisoned you, caused you to fall off a ladder, attempted to crush you with a bookcase...but he’d also patched you up after Valentino kicked your ass, and saved you from Vox’s clutches last night, sometimes you’re too nice for your own good. You un-tie the bow tie at his neck pulling it off and setting it down on the bedside table, you then take off his coat, it was made of a very thick material. 

You snort to yourself, for once glad that he can’t hear you, “Well, no wonder you’re overheating” you mutter to yourself you place the coat on a hanger and hang it in his closet, you gently pull off his dress shoes and place them with all the others on a little shoe wrack in his closet before closing the doors. You wander into the bathroom and pull a red facecloth from the cupboard under his sink, you run the cold tap drenching the facecloth making sure it was cold. 

“All this effort I’m going through for you, you’d better be damn grateful, Alastor” you mumble quietly you turn the tap off and rinse most of the water from the cloth, leaving the bathroom you fold it into a rectangular shape and place it on his forehead with the intention of lowering his temperature, even if only a little. You take one of his hands in your own and you let out a breath blowing wisps of hair away from your face. 

You gaze at him softly, occasionally squeezing his hand gently as if it were letting him know that he wasn’t alone and reminding you that he was still there “Come on, Al, you’re the fearsome Radio Demon you can’t ditch us now, what about all the new denizen’s you’ve yet to terrify?” You whisper jokingly you were sure he’d get a kick out of that but, in all honesty, you were scared. You were desperate for him to wake up and tell you it was some kind of prank, or to scare the living daylights out of you, heck you’d take just about anything he could throw at you right about now sure you’d be pissed but you’d be relieved to know that he was okay. 

Hours ticked by and you hadn’t moved, you felt as though you were stuck in a purgatory state, holding his hand, sometimes refreshing the facecloth, running your hands through his hair to calm your fried nerves sometimes you’d beg him to wake up, sometimes you’d sit and talk to him about your life and what it had been like, knowing he couldn’t hear you. It had been a full four hours since he’d collapsed and you couldn't see him getting up anytime soon. The longer you stayed sat in silence watching the rise and fall of his chest, hoping that neither of them would be his last, the more upset and nervous you got. 

You grab the facecloth to run it under the cold tap again, his temperature was so high it was making the facecloth warm after just a few minutes, you felt like a zombie by now just going through the motions, moths were flying about freely in your stomach and you had been close to crying quite a few times now, your throat was sore from holding it all back. God forbid he woke up to you crying over him, he’d never let you forget it! 

You shake the thought off rinsing the cloth once again you were folding it up neatly when movement caught your eye, at first you suspected it to be Charlie or Vaggie they’d been coming in to check on you regularly, bringing you glasses of water because you simply refused to leave the room. Imagine your shock when you look up to see Alastor stood hunched over slightly, bracing himself on the nightstand. 

Your brain stutters to a halt as a rush of mixed feelings courses through your body, relieved and shocked being the main two, amongst many others, you gasp rather loudly, dropping the damp cloth in your hands abandoning it in order to scramble over to him “What do you think you’re doing!?” You yell in a blind panic catching his attention, or should you say startling him? You grab his upper arms and force him to sit back on the bed and he gives you little to no resistance. 

You place your hand on his forehead gently and he looks up at you with wide eyes, you hum “You’ve still got a high fever; you’re not going anywhere” you demand he heaves a sigh closing his eyes and when he opens them again you can tell he’s going to try and worm his way out of it by giving you some bullshit response you step back and cross your arms as if daring him to do so. “Dear, I’m fine, I don’t get sick that’s just silly” he replies you scoff rolling your eyes. 

“Oh yeah? Because I could have sworn that you’d collapsed on me not four hours ago, and by the way, I caught you quite heroically, deadweight and all. The fact that you’re a 7ft tall demon and you collapsed onto **_me_** a 5ft female with barely any upper body strength! Jeez...” You exclaim his eyes were wide in shock or worry you couldn’t tell he was about to speak but you weren’t done you hold up a single finger silencing him “Not done! Not only were you passed out for four hours, but I and the rest of the staff had to carry you up far too many fucking stairs! You know I haven’t left this room since then! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been!?” You yell, your voice wobbles and you have to swallow tears thickly. 

You were just happy that you were actually having this conversation, you were happy to be yelling at him again, happy to hear him talking again. You were just happy. You bury your face in your hands fighting back tears that threatened your eyes, prickling painfully the lump in your throat was getting harder and harder to swallow. His static in the air was a familiar feeling but it felt different, waning, weaker. 

Lanky arms sneak around your waist pulling you in, you stumble forward in surprise wrenching your hands from your face to grab onto something to stop yourself from falling but you don’t need to, suddenly you’re cradled in his arms, head against his chest, his arms were wrapped around you securely “I had no idea I’d cause you so much trouble, dear, believe me, it was unconsciously done” he whispers gently. Your left hand gripped his red shirt balling it up in your fist and you wrap your right arm around him, you didn’t know why but you felt better sat here in his arms, it was almost like you were healing. 

You had to fight the urge to snuggle into him more, you tut quietly “Yeah...Mister I don’t get sick, I call bullshit” you mumble in slight annoyance, you were annoyed because a part of you didn’t want to be this comforted by being in his arms, but another part of you didn’t care it felt warm...too warm...you gasp again how could you have forgotten for even a single moment, no matter how brief, that he had a high fever? Dumbass pull yourself together! 

You pull back looking up at his face and blush scarlet red, he was a lot closer than you’d been expecting him to be the tip of your nose brushed against his causing you to freeze all movement. You purse your lips together, his half-lidded eyes still looked tired but you had a feeling that if you suggested he sleep for a while longer he’d outright tell you no. You let out a shaky breath moving your hand to grip his shoulders for some support, you felt his muscles flinch slightly under his thin shirt. 

Your eyes dart over to the damp cloth that was starting to make his carpet wet, you clear your throat “Al, I need you to let me up now” you say softly, you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him again, your face felt like it was burning and you just knew it was obvious. You could see from your peripheral vision that he’d tilted his head rather adorably, in your opinion, “and why, my dear, would I need to do that?” He asks quietly, not raising his voice much above a whisper you point quietly to the cloth you’d hastily dropped. 

You couldn’t tell if he’d looked at it, you were too busy focusing on forcing the blood in your face to disperse to the rest of your body when he lifted his head you were eye level with his bare neck...huh? Oh, right usually it’s covered by the collar of his shirt and bow tie but he’d undone a few of the shirt buttons of course because he’d been burning up, right. You couldn’t help but think that such a relaxed look was very attractive on him but again now simply wasn’t the time. 

You hear a small huff leave his lips and instead of letting you go his grip tightens “Leave it” he whispers his head lowers to rest on yours just between your flattened ears, keeping one arm around your waist he shifts the other to wrap around your shoulders pulling you even closer. Heat was radiating off of him, and you felt like maybe you were just making it worse “Al, you’re gonna make yourself even warmer like this” you try moving, to get up but it was obvious that it wouldn’t work he was far stronger than you could ever hope to be. You huff eventually just giving in resting your head on his shoulder you were sure he could feel your breath against his skin like you had been able to last night. 

Your mind wandered back to that, more specifically the conversation you’d had, you really hoped he wouldn’t remember it, or the kiss you’d given him...yeah definitely not that. You could feel his heart beating under your hand, hammering against his chest harshly and yours wasn’t much better you felt as though it were ready to burst. “You do know you’ll have to let me go at some point, right?” You whisper, stuttered breaths blowing against his skin causing him to shiver, a shiver you felt. 

“Not true, dear, anything I need I can summon” he replies quickly, it’s quickly starting to seem like he won’t be letting you go anytime soon “that’s not the point, Al, what about sleeping?” You ask thinking that you may have stumped him the reply he gives you causes your brain to short circuit “I can’t see that it would be affected, dear” you heart nearly stops, so what he just intends to keep you here until he’s better? Oh, dear Lucifer... 

You don’t even know what to say “What if either one of us needs to use the bathroom?" You question there’s a long pause before he replies “yes, I suppose that would be a problem” you hum in agreement and for a few minutes you both sit in silence holding each other. That is until Alastor starts talking “Did you have fun last night, dear?” He asks a bag full of butterflies open up in the pit of your stomach, where was this going? “Uh, it was alright, I guess” you reply a hand cups your cheek forcing your head up gently. 

His glowing red eyes lock onto yours “I apologize for not noticing your discomfort sooner, had I noticed I wouldn’t have left you alone with him at all let alone for a whole dance” there was venom laced into his word when he mentioned him, but it was almost like he couldn’t even bear to say his name, Vox, yeah that was one dance you could have done without “it’s fine, I mean it’s not like he hurt me or anything he just creeped me out...hey you were super drunk how do you remember that?!” You exclaim in worry, more importantly, what else did he remember? 

He grins, and you’re not gonna lie this particular grin has you more than a little worried “I may have drunk more than I intended but that does not mean that I’m bound to forget things, I remember everything, dear” you have to hold in a shrill scream otherwise you’d deafen him, you swallow thickly your eyebrows raising slightly “everything?” You question softly wondering whether or not you’d heard him correctly but apparently you had. He nods in reply there’s this mischievous gleam in his eyes as if he knew exactly what you were thinking of in particular. 

_“I must say you left me quite confused last night, little fox”_

Your face damn near explodes with colour, you rush to bury your face against his chest and nearly scream when all he does is chuckle at you, he’s sick and he’s still teasing you! Damn him! The way he said that you couldn’t tell if he were talking about the kiss you’d given him, as innocent as it was or the last thing you’d said to him before you left. His thumb brushes over your cheek a few times and you're convinced that he can probably feel the blush on your cheeks so much for hiding it... 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you say stubbornly he lets out a laugh, a real one, it wasn’t forced or fake, you clutch on to his shirt you had no idea how he’d respond but either way he would “really, my dear? Should I make it clearer for you then?” He teased lifting your head to look at him once more, stroking his thumb against your cheek, he hadn’t done that in a while, probably because you hadn’t spoken like this since you’d found out about the poison. 

You’d nearly forgotten about this, but you were starting to remember why you disliked it, his eyes were alight with mischief and something else you couldn’t quite put your finger on. It made your breath catch in your throat; his eyes were heavy-lidded and for once he was completely silent, his hand moved to slip under your chin keeping you in place his thumb brushes against your lower lip. 

Your breathing becomes laboured, heavy, the pad of his thumb forces your lips to part gently, you wanted to speak but you couldn’t your heart was in your throat you watched as his head lowered to meet yours, your eyes almost closing as if on instinct his lips were mere inches from your own, you could feel his hot breath fanning over your skin when he stops, he’s quiet for a moment until you hear him muttering under his breath “so many interruptions” it was so quiet you barely caught it. 

Interruptions? You strain your ears and hear Husk, Vaggie and Charlie heading this way, they were just about to reach the door, you gasp practically leaping from Alastor’s grasp you rush over to the cloth on the floor scooping it up hurriedly before stumbling the rest of the way into the bathroom. You drop the cloth into the sink and smack your hands against your cheeks...boy that was a close one! Shitting hell! Were you really about to let Alastor kiss you? You weren’t sure if you were angry with yourself...or maybe you had wanted to? You huff hearing the bedroom door open, you hear Charlie gasping noticing that Alastor’s up. 

You can hear them talking but you’re too busy thinking about more important and imminent things you had no doubt that he could possibly try that again and you had to figure out whether or not you’d be okay with it because if you weren’t, you’d need to learn how to say the word ‘no’ because that had indeed been very close. Your fingers move to cover your lips lightly, your lower lip was still tingling from the contact from his thumb. 

You let out a breath and grip with sides of the sink trying to compose yourself, you shake your head as if that would remove the problem you soak the cloth again and rinse it...again. You felt as though you’d spent far longer in his bathroom than you had your own you roll your eyes at the thought after taking another deep breath, satisfied that your face was no longer a colour that could put roses to shame you leave the bathroom and thank Lucifer Charlie has managed to get Alastor to get back into bed, in his pyjamas no less! 

You could just hug her! You stop by her side outright refusing to look at Alastor for the time being because you simply couldn’t, not without blushing again and honestly you felt that if you blushed anymore, you’d be the one passing out. “Hey you must be happy Alastor’s awake again, I don’t think I've ever seen you so worried, we were telling him what happened” and there goes the good mood, fuck sake Charlie, you thought. 

You hum Vaggie snickers and for once you shoot her a glare, right now wasn’t the time your nerves were fried enough as it was. They were just adding insult to injury now, “Really” you reply simply she nods enthusiastically you clear your throat the silence becomes a little awkward and you get this need to fill it you’re scrambling for something to talk about “so, what have you guys been up to?” You finally ask taking a seat on the edge of the bed once again you reach up to see if his temperature has changed and it hasn’t. 

You frown, he was sat up against his headboard the pillows behind him offering him some comfort, Charlie chats for a bit explaining that she’d given everyone the day off and that they’d all been watching movies in the lobby “We wished you’d been with us, hon” Vaggie says she’d been worried that you’d been sat up here bored out of your mind, or worrying yourself silly over Alastor of all demons! You crack a smile “I’m sure we’ll all get to watch movies together soon” you reply, it was sweet of them to want you there. 

After a while of talking, they leave the two of you again, going back to watching movies you guessed, you’d offered Alastor the cool cloth but he hadn’t wanted it you were forced to leave it in the sink. You’d since moved from the side of the bed to the desk chair that you’d moved over to place next to the bed. That was where you were curled up now you and Alastor had been talking for a while, but the atmosphere when it was quiet was filled with awkward tension. 

Like right now, it was quiet and you were searching for a topic to talk about that wouldn’t make it worse before Alastor piped up “Do not think I forgot about that dance you promised me, dear” you nearly choke on air, well so much for not making it more awkward “but Alastor your sick you can’t dance like this besides I don’t need you nearly crushing me again like I said last night we have the rest of the week to dance so focus on getting better first then as soon as your better I promise you we can dance okay?” You offer a compromise because you weren’t kidding your knees were still throbbing from hitting the deck this morning. 

He ponders this for a minute before he nods in agreement you nod once...and back to awkward silence great! “So, what did you mean last night?” He asks suddenly you lift your head to look at him to find his eyes were already pinned on you, he was looking at you as if you were too far away “Huh?” You’re so articulate sometimes, give yourself a medal! He chuckles “You said ‘If you could but be like this all the time’ what did you mean?” He looks genuinely curious as if he truly had no idea what you could have meant. 

You sigh, you didn’t want to tell him you felt like a whiny child being forced to do something that they didn’t want to do “I just meant that you looked more relaxed and I wished you could be like that all the time because when you’re tense you make everyone around you tense as well” it wasn’t the whole truth but it wasn’t exactly a lie either and it was the best he was going to get out of you. He leans his head back against the headboard and for a minute he’s quiet. 

Even the static in the room had disappeared, you couldn’t hear it and you couldn’t feel it “come here” he whispers your eyes had been wandering around the room but when those words left his lips your head whipped to look in his direction his eyes were on you again already you blink a few times before he repeats himself “come here, little fox” he whispers softly beckoning you with a clawed finger and patting the space on the bed next to him. 

For a minute you think about refusing but what you think about and what your body does is very quickly becoming two separate things you find yourself rounding the other side of the bed you barely get to the other side before he reaches up and pulls you to him, you let out a small yelp you end up led against him, your head on his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around you once again. “I thought you didn’t like to be touched?” You say with a questioning lilt wondering if everyone had lied to you. 

He doesn’t respond for a minute “I don’t typically, it’s a little different with you, my dear” in other words you’re special if you were translating that right Alastor so often said one thing and meant something else that it was impossibly hard to decipher what he meant sometimes. “Isn’t this just making you warmer?” You ask, concern seeping into your tone, he cups your cheek again shrugging. His silk shirt pressed against your cheek was cool but it was obvious that he was still burning up. 

You lift your head up to look at him his eyes were closed and he looked relaxed “Are you tired?” You ask staring at the dark circles under his eyes reaching up you caress them gently, brushing your thumb under his left eye they open to look at you “a little, my dear, a little” he whispers back “do you want me to go so you can get some sleep?” You ask, the question was pretty much answered when his grip on you tightened dramatically, he shakes his head, it was such a timid movement “stay” he whispers pleadingly holding your hand to his cheek, keeping it there. 

You tut at him “Alastor how are you going to get any sleep like this?” The position he was sat in looked incredibly uncomfortable and you were sure that you being there was just making it worse he hums for a minute before replying “oh I should think like this, darling” it takes a minute for you to realize that he’d shuffled the both of you into a comfortable position without having to move much at all you were still lead against him only now you were under the covers and he was led down on his pillows. 

He wasn’t serious, right? He wasn’t going to sleep with you in his arms, right? Of course, one glance up at him was all the confirmation you needed, yes, he was, he was going to sleep with you pressed up against him. _You chew on your bottom lip what had you gotten yourself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 16 out nice and early...'cause I've got nothing better to do :D I hope you guys enjoy this one, all comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading! See you with the next one! :)


	17. What’s Wrong with A Little Healthy Competition?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’d spent two days nursing Alastor back to full health, which had actually gone over well, he’d even apologized for all the horrible things he’d done to you. Charlie wants to throw a small New Year’s party for everyone at the hotel and her parents which you’re only too glad to hear! And Alastor and Husk have a little healthy competition, over what you ask? Why over you! Of course!! 

Two days you’d taken care of him, two whole days! You were damn impressed with yourself; you’d started wondering by the end of the second day if he’d ever get better! His fever had started easing up that morning but it had still been present when he went to bed that night but low and behold, he stands in front of you fully able to stand without needing to lean on you which he’d outwardly hated you’d found his mutterings hilarious but also sweet he was such an independent soul you’re not surprised he hated having to rely on you. 

You hadn’t had an awful time with him though it had actually been rather nice and the best part about it was that he’d apologized to you for all the shitty things he’d done, you think back to the memory fondly with a small smile: 

_You’d been sat in his desk chair next to the bed, he’d been eating in silence and you were reading a book you’d gotten from the library out loud to him, he placed his bowl up on the nightstand next to his bed and folded his hands in his lap he looked sheepish but nevertheless, he cleared his throat catching your attention, you look up from the words on the page you raise a single eyebrow “Everything okay, Al?” You ask lowering the book a little._

_He looks shifty which is strange, you could think of only one other time when he’d looked like that he sighs “I’m...sorry-” he starts, wringing his fingers and refusing you meet your questioning gaze “-about-cough-tampering with your food, knocking you off the ladder, and trying to crush you with a bookcase among multiple other things...” he trails off a little pulling at the collar of his silk shirt he eventually looks up into your eyes and you can tell that he means every word he’s saying “I know you might never be able to forgive me, but I would very much appreciate it if you would let me try to make it up to you?” He asks timidly._

_You smile softly, the corners of your eyes crinkle you put the book down onto the bedside table and get up from your seat, his eyes follow you curiously his eyebrows raise slightly you sit on the edge of the bed next to him you look him unwaveringly in the eyes for once confidently holding his intense gaze “Alastor, I would love that, thank you” you reply genuinely you lean up and kiss his cheek gently before whisking his dishes away out of the room, concealing a light dusting of blush on your own cheeks._

Since then, he’d been going out of his way to be nice to you it was extremely sweet. You look up at him he’d just stepped out of the bathroom dressed but lacking his coat and bow tie, you’d insisted that he took a shower before leaving the room to see everyone. He turns his back to you, he was already dressed in his red shirt, suit pants and dress shoes you’d taken to straightening up his room while he was busy you were just straightening up the bed when you’d turned your head to glance at him. 

That glance turned into a double-take... _tail..._ he has a fucking tail!! What!? Why hadn’t you noticed this before?! “You have a tail!” You squeal loudly causing him to flatten his ears to his head for the first time ever he turns to you with a mortified expression, almost like he’d completely forgotten about it, because he had! He’d spent so much of his time trying to hide it from everyone that when’d gotten sick he’d completely forgotten about it. 

He swallows visibly, you could see his Adam's apple bob nervously, you smirk...oh you were so gonna take advantage of this! His tail was so damn cute it just didn’t suit his personality, its main colour was red but it had black dappled spots on it, it looked so fluffy and soft! He clears his throat brushing himself down he still looked nervous “Now, my dear, whatever it is you’re thinking I would strongly advise against it” he warns with no real intention behind it. He wouldn’t do anything to you of course but he would rather you didn’t try to touch it; he was rather sensitive about his tail. 

You smirk before shrugging trying to look innocent “What? I’m not thinking anything...” you trail off turning back to the bed you finish the task at hand, you hear him hum sounding unconvinced behind you, there’s a sharp snap and you just know that his coat and bowtie were in place and he was once again looking dapper. When you turn back around you see that you’re right, you were happy to see him looking healthy again, there weren’t any dark bags under his eyes, his complexion was no longer pale. 

He looked healthy as he fiddled with his shirt cuffs when he looks down at you, realization dawns on him that you’ve been staring at him for a short while he quirks an eyebrow at you “Is there something on my face, dear?” He asks reaching a hand up to wipe his face you giggle and his eyes widen “no, I’m just happy you’re well again” you reply before walking ahead of him out of the room, you hear him hurrying to catch up with you and when he does, he gently grabs one of your arms to link with his. 

When you both reach the lobby everyone’s there the lobby is exceptionally clean, Niffty mustn't have taken yesterday off, Husk was sat behind the bar on a few boxes watching the 666 News, Angel was sat at the bar for once keeping quiet, Vaggie and Charlie stood at the foot of the stairs with Niffty, looking as though she were about to implode from excitement. You glance up at Alastor and he grins at you “It’s good to be back, I’m glad to see nothing's changed” he whispers discreetly to you his eyes darting about the room occasionally landing on certain members of the group. 

You sigh with a half-smile “Be nice” you reply firmly, the last thing you needed was for him to start arguments the very same day he’d just gotten better, he gasps feigning hurt “my dear, I wouldn’t dream of being anything but nice!” He exclaims you snort in reply shaking your head you squeeze his arm lightly in warning “yeah and I have every reason to believe that.” 

He smirks but doesn’t reply as you both begin to descend the stairs Charlie smiles widely looking relieved that Alastor was finally well, Vaggie looked indifferent but pleased that you had finally joined the group again she offers you a small smile and as always Niffty was super excited, she was bouncing up and down and there were stars in her eyes “You two make such a cute couple!” She squeals Husk’s head had never moved so fast. 

He whipped around to look at the tiny cyclopes only to see you stood arm in arm with that insufferable prick, the one that had been hogging your attention since the Christmas party he nearly growls as he watches you hurriedly let go of his arm to try and correct Niffty, your face was a little red and for a minute his heart lurched, you weren’t actually dating him, right? The thought nearly made him sick, the guy was an ass to you from the moment you stepped foot into the hotel. 

He wouldn’t let you make that mistake, not without showing you all of your options first, just because that prick had this connection to you that didn’t mean you absolutely had to accept it you had a choice. He’d make sure you knew that when Alastor explains his bond to you Husk would make damn sure that you knew you had a choice in the matter. 

After correcting Niffty and stopping your face from catching fire Charlie moved to the centre of the lobby so that everyone could hear and see her “Okay everyone listen up!” She exclaims capturing everyone's attention all eyes were on her “The Christmas party was a huge success, and to thank you all I’m throwing a New Year’s party for all of us, my parents will be attending to congratulate us all...because...we’re finally getting guests!” She exclaims happily. 

Your jaw drops and your eyes widen you rush to sweep Charlie up into a hug and she giggles “Oh my gosh! No way! Guests are finally gonna be staying here!?” You squeal and she nods frantically “they’re hoping to be in a few days after New Year’s” she replies you squeal loudly in excitement “that’s amazing you must be so happy Charlie!” Niffty's bouncing off the walls, no literally she was hopping from wall to wall in pure excitement and you’re sure that if you had been able to do that you would have been too. 

Vaggie laughs at your antics glad that you were equally as happy about the news Angel grinning from ear to ear glad to see that Charlie was finally happy and Husk was smiling slightly his eyes, unbeknown to you, were locked on you happy to see you looking excited and having fun. Alastor’s eyes were also on you, grinning from ear to ear, he loved your smile and for once the idea of the hotel didn’t seem so silly, not if it put such a big smile on your wonderful face. 

“Well, congratulations are in order, my charming demon belle!” He exclaims wandering over to the two of you she grins “thanks, but I couldn’t have done any of this without all of you guys” she says with a fond smile peering around at all of you. 

A few hours after the big news was dropped by Charlie, you’d all gone your semi-separate ways Charlie and Vaggie had gone upstairs, but not before Vaggie sent you a cheeky wink, you shake your head like you really needed her to drop hints on what she was about to do, you loved that girl like a sister, but she was getting far too daring with the information she was giving out. Niffty had followed Alastor around updating him on the progress she’d made while he was sick. 

That left you with Angel and Husk for a little while, you jump up onto a bar stool Husk grins at you “Glad to see you back down here” he greets, his smile is cheeky, you grin back “glad to be back, I missed you guys” you reply fondly he laughs deeply shaking his head he places a cheap beer in front of you “you didn’t go very far” he points out you shake your head “did too, you’ve seen how many flights of stairs his room is up, it felt like I was miles away!” You exclaim before you both burst into laughter. 

Angel messes up your hair from behind pushing it all into your face, you let out a shrill squeal “No!” You scream in protest with a large grin, he scoffs and sits on the stool next to you “glad to see ya’ back, toots!” He exclaims gosh you’d missed these two, it may have only been two days but you’d missed them all the same. The three of you sit and chat for an hour Husk shows you some new magic tricks he’d learned and he teaches you a few of them. 

After a while, he grabs himself a new beer and when he opens it, he eyes the both of you before holding his drink up slightly “A toast, to you-” he gestures the open end of his bottle to you before continuing “-without whom we would probably be suffering because of that prick!” Angel agrees and they both sip their drink you laugh taking a sip of your own you shake your head “Nah I believe in you guys; you would have been just fine.” You smile at them warmly and lovingly and you knew they could see it they grin back with equal tenderness, finally a day without catastrophic shenanigans. 

After another half an hour with Husk and Angel you excuse yourself to go and find Niffty, you walk through multiple hallways, up multiple flights of stairs and this is starting to feel familiar. You’ve found the Ballroom again and music is coming from it stirring up old memories, the doors open just a crack and light was spilling out through the gap. You grin...Alastor the first thing he thinks of doing is playing the piano after just getting over a fever? And he thinks you’re the confusing one. 

You shake your head an amused smile on your face you push the door open gently revealing a very clean Ballroom, it wasn’t this clean the last time you were in here...The drapes had been replaced the floor had been cleaned and polished the furniture had been moved the only thing in there was the piano...and a certain deer demon sat at it playing beautifully. 

You eye him for a minute you knew that he knew you were there, his coat was once again discarded, his hands were flying over ivory keys and an uplifting tune was spilling out into the room you smirk because you knew that this was a hint that he hadn’t forgotten about that little promise you’d made him. You roll your eyes but if you were honest with yourself excitement was building up within you, secretly you’d been looking forward to this. 

You glide over to where he sat, he hadn’t acknowledged you but you could see his grin getting wider you take a deep quiet breath before holding out a single hand “I do believe I promised you a dance” you say coyly your eyes squinting knowing that he’d be just as dramatic. He turns to eye you and with a smirk, he replies “Yes I do believe you did, my dear!” He exclaims before snapping his fingers the piano starts playing to itself once again you shake your head in disbelief you were never going to get used to how much that amazed you. 

“Show off” you mumble quietly, he simply chuckles taking your hand and leading you elegantly to the centre of the room, you take his shoulder at the same time his arm slips around your waist and you both dance with ease, he beams at you “I’ve been looking forward to this, my dear” he admits freely you blush a little “me too” you reply quietly feeling a little shy. He looks pleased but he’s also shaking his head “No I don’t mean just the dance, dear, as lovely as it is” he explains you pull a confused expression “what do you mean?” 

He sighs a little “I’ve been looking forward to us talking again” he admits, he swallows thickly before continuing “It was hard for me to keep such a distance from you as you could possibly tell-” you snicker at that, yeah you could tell alright, he smirks at you “-yes, well, there’s a reason for that, dear, I’d wanted to explain it that day when...well, there’s no need to get back into that” He clears his throat looking away, your eyebrows pinch together he looked embarrassed like he didn’t know how to explain it. 

You reach up to cup his cheek forcing him to look at you “Whatever you need to say, Al, just say it, it’s okay” you try to reassure him hoping that it would coax him into spitting it out already, the suspense was killing you. You two had long since stopped dancing the piano was still playing but at this point, it might as well be playing to itself, you felt as though the two of you were in your own little world where nothing else mattered. 

He sighs gently tugging your hand away from his face to hold in his own occasionally rubbing his thumb over the smooth skin on the back of it, he takes a deep breath “I don’t think there’s an easy way of telling you this, darling, but I had gone out that day to seek out a friend, Lucifer to be precise-” he pauses, to let you catch up you nod, yes you remembered Lilith saying something about those two talking about you, at the time you’d been too nervous to ask what had been said but now you have to admit you’re eaten up with curiosity. 

“-Well, I’d been having strangely mixed feelings about you and, if it’s not obvious to you already, I’m not very good when it comes to identifying them or for that matter why I was having them, Lucifer can be very insightful about these particular topics” He stops his hands were shaking...was he nervous? So nervous, in fact, that his whole body was trembling “Do you know what a Soulmate is?” 

**_..._ **

Did...he...just...? 

...What!? 

He scrambles to explain everything that Lucifer had told him, that sometimes people don’t meet their soulmate in life so they meet in their Afterlife instead because God had a twisted sense of humour, he would sometimes have someone’s soulmate born in the wrong time so that they would never meet. But the soul finds a way, no matter what, you had thought it was silly, soulmates, but apparently there really was such a thing. You were Alastor’s soulmate but you’d been born years into the future, therefore, you two were never to meet in life and instead your souls were united in death. 

Everyone had a soulmate, as sappy as it sounded and even you found it cringy as fuck but it was also very sweet because that was how Lucifer had met Lilith, and Charlie had met Vaggie. It was also a lot of information to take in, naturally, bombshells like this don’t get dropped on the daily...Alastor had known this for nearly two months and he hadn’t said anything! You gasp at the realization “Two months! You’ve known this rather important, mind-boggling piece of information for two long months and you never thought to tell me?!” You yell completely baffled. 

He pulls you to him holding you tightly even when you tried to fight him, you just ended up wearing yourself out and bursting into tears against him, clutching at his back you were sure you’d heard fabric tear but it wasn’t a big deal he could fix it easily. “I wanted to tell you, believe me, I wanted to, but nothing ever goes the way I picture it, no matter how meticulously I plan things something always throws it off track, I wanted to tell you every day because not telling you pained me, being away from you was painful...” He hugs you tighter nuzzling into your neck “please don’t cry” he whispers. 

The two of you could have stayed like that for hours and you would have been none the wiser, your chest no longer hurt and neither did his, this information that had been hanging in the air between you was finally out in the open and it perfectly explained everything. You also knew why the others had been acting so strange since that day now, they knew but it wasn’t for them to say it was for the two of you to figure out. 

This complicated things a bit, you could have handled having some silly school-girl crush on Alastor but this soulmate thing seemed very permanent you pull back wiping your face with the back of your hands, brushing away whatever was left of the tears you’d cried you take a deep breath trying to take in all the new information without feeling as though you were going to combust “Are you alright, darling” he asks quietly you nod shakily “yeah it’s just a lot of information for one day” you let out a nervous laugh. 

You can see from your peripheral vision his head nodding in understanding “You don’t have to make any rash decisions on this right now, I won’t rush you or force you into anything, I promise” you look into his eyes and you can tell that he’s nervous and worried like he thinks you're going to run away or disappear in a flash of smoke you smile reassuringly “I-I’ll need a little time to process, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” 

He nods clearing his throat once more he straightens his shoulders and brushes his suit down snapping his fingers his suit was clean and patched up “That’s enough of the heavy stuff, shall we dance, my dear?” He asks comically, bowing deeply you giggle, curtseying dramatically you reply “we shall!” He laughs taking your hand once again you both start to dance around the ballroom while chatting about the upcoming New Year’s party and about Charlie’s amazing news. 

“Do you think she’ll have the party in here this time?” You ask curiously your eyes dart about the newly cleaned Ballroom it seemed much lighter and airier in here now. Alastor hums thoughtfully for a minute, his thumb occasionally brushing over the back of your hand “I’m not sure, dear, but I’m sure if you suggested it, she would be thrilled with the idea” he replies, his red eyes meet yours looking soft and tenderly at you. You grin “I might ask her.” 

You’d danced with Alastor for a long time in which it had become late, late enough in the evening for you to be cooking dinner. You had excused yourself wanting to find Charlie before starting dinner, and you were pretty sure Alastor had said he would be in the Library. You skip through the corridors in search of Charlie, glancing over some of the paintings, Lucifer’s smile seemed extra-wide in a few of them, look mischievous and cunning. 

His eyes seemed to follow you down the hallways, it was incredibly unnerving. You’re extremely glad to see Charlie at the end of one of the hallways with Vaggie you call out to them and watch as they turn to face you. You grin jogging the rest of the way to catch up to them, Charlie’s smile hadn’t gotten any smaller since she told you the amazing news and Vaggie looked more excited than usual, no doubt that Charlie’s bubbly personality was rubbing off on the hot-headed moth demon. 

You pant for a minute, is it possible to be un-fit even when it shouldn’t matter because you’re...you know...dead? You shake the thought off and smile broadly “Are you gonna throw the New Year’s party in the Ballroom?” You ask quickly, you don’t usually get excited over parties but as it was just the rest of the staff and Charlie’s parents you didn’t have anything to worry about. She hums before looking at Vaggie; she was hugging her elbows looking amused, Vaggie nods encouragingly “We could do that, amor, we haven’t used that room and Niffty did such a good job in cleaning it” she replies. 

Her white eyes dart between the two of you, you bounce from one foot to the other trying not to make a huge fuss at the end of the day it was down to Charlie she’d worked hard for this. You watch the pale blonde nod in agreement before turning to you with sparkles in her eyes “You know what I think we will!” You squeal loudly swooping her up into a hug and spinning her around, she giggles loudly when you set her down again, you blush in embarrassment realizing that might have been a bit much. 

“Oops” you whisper they just laugh; you walk with them slowly back to the direction of the corridor talking about preparations for this party “Dresses! We’ll need to get new dresses; we’ll bring the guys with us this time they can do most of the heavy lifting!” Charlie exclaims you shake your head bemusedly, yeah, you’re sure Husk will have something to say about that and you’re positive the words would be either ‘fuck you!’ or ‘fuck off!’ either way it’ll include some kind of profanity. 

Vaggie laughs quietly, nudging your ribs with her elbow lightly you turn to her, she glances at Charlie whose still happily chatting away before leaning in close “Do you think Angel counts as one of the guys?” She asks with a large smirk; you snicker softly covering your mouth with your hand trying to hold in a laugh you shake your head “I highly doubt it!” You reply she grins leaning back to listen to the rest of whatever Charlie had been talking about it, completely unaware that the two of you had missed half of what she’d said. 

Your conversation is interrupted by commotion starting up in the lobby, you’re not far off reaching that particular room but you’d all been walking so leisurely it was taking you a little longer than usual to reach it. The three of you glance at each other in shock, arguments hadn’t broken out in a while, granted that had been mostly because you’d kept a very poorly Alastor upstairs on bed rest, but still, even Husk and Angel had been getting along just fine as far as you’d heard. 

The three of you race off toward the lobby worriedly, wondering what had happened and why and, most importantly, who was having the argument in the first place. When you reach the lobby, Angel and Niffty were stood close to the kitchen doors out of the way of Alastor, who was looking less smug and more annoyed which is unusual for him considering that most of the time if he starts an argument it’s usually to entertain himself, and Husk who was looking borderline furious. 

The lobby itself was a mess, much more so than usual, not only were there broken beer bottles everywhere, but the sofas had been thrown to the other side of the lobby, pictures that were usually hung on the lobby walls were shattered, bits of wooden frames were sticking out all over the place making it a hazard. Your eyes widen at the sight, Husk had never, to your knowledge, been this angry before. 

“What the hell is going on!?” Vaggie yells, she looked crossed between enraged and impressed which was an odd combination for her, their heads turn to see the three of you peering around in shock and irritation, your previously happy mood completely ruined by whatever had taken place, a loud snap rings about the room but it’s suddenly clean, everything is fixed and put back to how it should have been. 

Vaggie rests her hands on her hips leaning on one, you could tell that she was biting her tongue because her cheeks had hollowed out a little, she gave them both a deadpan look waiting for either one to explain what had happened. The quiet goes on for so long you’re almost convinced that they had taken a vow of silence. But it’s Husk who breaks, in the end, he growls in frustration “This dick can’t answer a simple question!” He yells, one after the other starting with Charlie the three of you tilt your heads in confusion. 

You’re sure it would have seemed comical but you were too busy being confused...he had broken bottles and paintings and flipped over sofas because...because Alastor wouldn’t answer a question? “Huh?” You say finally voicing what the others couldn’t seem to say he sighs his shoulders sagging in the process you watch as the tense feline pinches the bridge of his nose in thought whatever he was trying to explain you could tell it was complicated so you wait. 

_Nothing’s ever easy at this fucking hotel, is it?_

When he finally looks back up his eyes land on you, locking with your own and you get this sick, nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach that this may have something to do with what Alastor had dropped on you earlier today. You clench your jaw, hoping and praying that it’s not about what you think it is... 

“Has Alastor told you yet?” He asks you quirk a brow “about what?” You ask in reply, while mentally begging that this wasn’t about a specifically difficult topic “about his bond to you?” He replies dejectedly....FUCK!! God damn it!!! Not this shit again for the love of everything un-holy!! You sigh loudly showing your displeasure at having to discuss this topic again “yes” you say simply, you have to bite the insides of your cheeks to keep from screaming. 

_One normal day...IS THAT REALLY TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR!?!?!_

Husk takes a deep breath before squaring his shoulders you feel as though he’s about to drop some big ass news on you too like one huge news announcement wasn’t enough today! “Well, you know that you don’t have to accept that bond, right? You’ve got a choice in this” he says his amber eyes set firmly on you and there was a new determined fire in them, a fire that made you quake, you wonder what he’s trying to get at you can only bring yourself to nod. 

Your bright green eyes dart to Alastor, he’d been oddly quiet, he looked disheartened like he’d already lost some intense battle, little did you know it had only just begun, your eyes land back on Husk in silent question he takes another deep breath to calm his nerves before steeling them he holds your gaze steadily “I know what I’m about to say might make this much harder on you and you’ve already got so much to think about but if I don’t tell you now then I know I’ll regret it...” He pauses. 

The room is so quiet and tense that you could hear a pin drop nerves were getting the better of you “I have feelings for you” he states finally before blowing out a breath, your brain freezes...that’s an understatement your whole body just stops moving, you’re sure that you’ve even stopped blinking, that you’ve stopped breathing. Everything had just stopped... 

_Oh...What?..._

“Hon?” You can hear Vaggie calling out to you but you don’t know how to respond, your heart was pounding and it was about the only thing you had that hadn’t given up on you no matter how little you breathed. But when your body does eventually start back up again, you blink rapidly and you have to remind yourself that breathing is good for you no matter how dead you are. When your eyes eventually focus you can see Husk’s worried face, you swallow thickly “Oh...” _so damn articulate, the guys just outright told you he has feelings for you and all you can say is 'oh!’_

You shake your head “I-” you pause as the room starts to spin wildly “-I think I need to sit down” you say slowly, sinking to the floor at the top of the stairs “Toot!” Angel yells rushing up the stairs toward you he sits lightly on one of the steps below you becoming almost head height with you. You look into his odd coloured eyes, eyes that looked concerned his hands were resting on your shoulders keeping you upright. When you’re sure that you’ve collected yourself, you look up. 

Husk was crouched beside you looking embarrassed and a little stressed at the response to his admittance Alastor was stood half-way up the stairs not knowing whether or not he should approach you, Husk sighs next to you “I shouldn’t have said anything, I’m sorry, but I just wanted you to know that you had options, I didn’t want you getting into some fucked up relationship with **_him_** and come to regret it later I mean you barely know the guy!” He exclaims standing from his position and turning his back to you. 

You listened quietly, he had a point, you didn’t know Alastor not really, you only knew what he was happy to tell you, and even then, it really wasn’t all that much Husk huffs when he turns to face you again his expression is soft “, And I know I’m not exactly an open book either, but I promised I’d protect you, and I did say I’d tell you more about myself as long as you opened up to me too” he adds with a slight smile he crouches down by your side again he’s a lot closer this time you can see all the detail in his amber eyes. 

That determined fire was still there and you knew he wasn’t going to give you up without putting up one hell of a fight, he cups your left cheek with a clawed hand “Just promise me you’ll take you time and think about it? Get to know us better? Don’t go jumping into things, okay?” He asks quietly, sweetly, you let out a breath and nod “I promise” you reply. He nods once before standing and turning to walk back down the lobby stairs but not before exchanging a cold glare with Alastor. 

Vaggie, Angel, Charlie and Niffty were all stunned by this turn of events, you had to admit you were a complete nervous wreck you lock eyes with Angel and try to discreetly signal that you needed an escape, you’re so lucky that Angel’s smart he shoots you a knowing look before grabbing your arm and rushing off with you down the right-hand hallway toward his room despite the protests coming from the others. 

Once you were safely tucked away in Angel’s room, he’d locked the door for good measure, you completely explode with nerves “What the fuck was that?!” You yell Angel grins shaking his head “I believe it’s called a love confession, toots, and he’s been planning it since before the strawberry pimp passed out” you groan loudly “I know what it was Angel, I meant why did it have to happen to me!” You flop onto Angel’s bed forcing your face into a particularly soft pillow and scream into it for a few minutes. 

Angel laughs “Husk and Al are gonna be fighting for yer’ attention I hope ya’ ready, babes, it’s gonna be a long few days depending on how long it takes for ya’ to make a decision” you groan again this simply cannot be happening!! You mumble something into the pillow and Angel rolls his eyes “can’t hear ya’, toots!” He yells in reply. You lift your head off the pillow, your hair was a mess in front of your face but you don’t even care you’ve got bigger problems. 

“This sucks’!” You yell indignantly Angel quirks a thin eyebrow at you before fluffing up his bust and smoothing his hair over, he grabs a nail file and starts to file his nails “really? Because I feel like yer’ livin’ the dream there, toots, two good lookin’ men fighting over ya’...” he trails off looking away with a dreamy look in his eyes you resist the urge to roll your eyes sitting yourself up on the bed properly “you’re drooling, Angel, come back down to Hell, damnit!” You exclaim. 

Angel snickers “Don’t think I’ll be ascending anytime soon” he laughs, you grin slightly, honestly you weren’t sure you wanted to leave either, but right now you’d welcome a change in scenery, your eyes widen and you feel as though a lightbulb goes off inside your head you gasp making Angel jump slightly “Angel, how do you feel about going out for a bit?” You ask he seems to realise that you’re not actually asking, he smirks grabbing a large fluffy coat he follows you back to the Lobby. 

You peep around the corner of the hallway, checking the lobby. It’s mostly clear Alastor must be in the Library, Charlie, Vaggie and Niffty will most likely be off doing their own thing. But Husk was sat at the bar, beer in one hand and remote control in the other, absentmindedly flicking through channels. He’s sat on boxes with his feet propped up on the bar top he outwardly he looked relaxed, but you weren’t stupid not by a long shot, you knew he must be feeling nervous and jittery you wanted so desperately to quell his fears but you needed time to process first, you hoped he’d understand. 

You grab Angel’s wrist he gives you this confused look but he doesn’t have time to question it, you sprint from your hiding spot, down the stairs and out the lobby doors, pulling the tall arachnid with you when you reach the gate to the hotel you let go of his wrist and he rolls his eyes panting “Ya’ know, toots-pant-ya really are gonna have to talk to them some time” he states you nod opening the squeaky gate and walking out onto the sidewalk you huff “yeah, but I also need to wrap my head around it all.” 

You both end up walking up to a bunch of shops they’re all super cute looking, one of which is a light pink with white clouds painted onto it the sign above it read ‘ _Sweet Tooth Sinners!’_ It looked like a sweet shop you could feel Angel’s excitement next to you, you grin “we should totally get some sweets, right, Angel?” You look to your left but he’s already gone you laugh and run into the shop after him. 

_This should be a rather sweet experience...Yeah, you hate yourself for that one..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Chapter 17 things are finally getting interesting, I hope you guys enjoy this one, after all, how often are ya gonna have Husker and Alastor fighting over you? All comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading! See you with the next one!


	18. Slumber Party with Angel? Hell Yeah!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a boatload of shit being dropped on you, you just wanna relax with Angel, eat loads of sweets, gossip about the party and have a sleepover! But first, you gotta get through dinner time with the others including Husk and Alastor...Yikes! 

You and Angel gaze around the little sweet shop, it smelled...you almost want to say it smelled heavenly but...maybe that’s a poor choice in words? Though you had no doubt whatsoever that Heaven smelled far better than Hell. You’re getting off track a little, the quint sweet shop was run by an equally as sweet lamb demon, her wool was a candy floss pink, her lower legs were white and her hooved feet were brown. She was short, shorter than you, standing at about 4ft5 her arms were pink with white cloud-like dapples, her eyes were a little odd looking her pupils were black X shapes, her irises were bright red and her sclera was pink. 

Overall, she was adorable and actually very sweet as she greeted you both, though she did look a little intimidated by Angel’s height, it took all your effort not to laugh you could relate, you remember feeling much the same when you’d first met him it was nice to know that you’d finally gotten passed that, if anyone had told you when you arrived at the hotel that you and Angel would become very good friends, you’d have asked them if they were tripping on acid. But now that you’re being dragged around a sweet shop with him, you couldn’t help but feel utterly grateful. You also couldn’t picture doing this with anyone else! 

You feel like you were about to spend a small fortune in one shop, there were tonnes of different sweets Angel was practically salivating over the rainbow crystal sherbet and you were staring starry-eyed at multiple bags of candy floss and the best part was that they were all normal flavours, not weird hell flavours, actual normal sweet flavours. You ended up buying three different bags of candy floss, two tubs of rainbow crystal sherbet, and four different flavoured lollypops for you and Angel to share. You’d also bought Vaggie, Charlie, Niffty and Husk something sweet. 

You hadn’t bothered to by Alastor a sweet thing instead you bought him something bitter it was a drink and according to the lovely lamb it was the most bitter-tasting thing she’d ever had the displeasure of trying, you’d obviously had to explain Alastor’s strange tastes to her, she completely understood and was able to offer up a wide range of different things to get him instead. 

You pay for the treats happily offering a polite ‘thank you’ to the lamb she smiles widely showing off small yet sharp teeth “Have a sweet day!” She replies enthusiastically offering you both a wave as you leave. Once outside Angel bursts into a fit of laughter, you face him feeling confused you smile slightly “what’s tickled you?” You ask you’re struggling not to laugh along simply because his laughter was so infectious, he takes a deep breath trying to calm down enough in order to answer your question. 

When he looks at you, you can see this huge grin spread across his face “Ugh, toots, a fox and a lamb being all chatty and pally it was just too much!” He starts laughing again and suddenly you realize the implications...oh! Well, no wonder she’d seemed so nervous! Technically you’re depicted as her natural predator how could you have missed that! You laugh along realizing how strange that exchange must have looked from Angel’s perspective and the two of you eventually start to make your way back to the hotel with bags of sweets in your hands. 

_Not realizing you were both being watched by a small group of three demons..._

“Velvet shut up! I’m trying to listen!” Vox whisper yells at the much smaller and, at the moment, rather irritatingly talkative demon she was bouncing up and down “what!? I’m just excited to be included in the spying this time, you guys never invite me!” She exclaims. Both Val and Vox shush her in unison once again for what felt like the fiftieth time today, “Maybe we don’t invite you because you don’t know how to keep your mouth shut!” Val exclaims quietly watching as the two of you laugh at some strange inside joke. They all grin widely watching as the two of you make your way back to the hotel, you had no idea just what they had in store for you... 

When you cross the threshold to the hotel, you’re met by three apparently hungry demons, Vaggie, Charlie and Niffty practically zoom over to the two of you and immediately start asking when you’re going to start cooking dinner you snicker at them before realizing that it was so much later than usual, you’d all usually eaten by now and would be relaxing before going to bed, whoops, you grimace handing the sweet bags over to Angel you turn back to the three apparently ‘starving’ girls and reply “I’m going right now, okay I won’t be long” You rush into the kitchen checking the fridge and the freezer tutting quietly. 

Something quick, easy, and filling...you rummage through the food in the fridge, cottage pie? Too long. Shepard’s pie? Same problem. Come on think! Ah hah! Pasta-bake and they’ll all love it, at least they better because that’s what you’re cooking! Now that you thought about it, you were pretty hungry too; you start boiling the water and prepping everything, and it doesn’t take you very long to have it mostly done and baking in the oven. You turn to set the table and while doing so a horrifying thought crosses your mind...Husk and Alastor were going to be eating with you...at least you assumed they would be. 

Uh-oh, you pray to whatever deity is acceptable that they don’t fight or make this any more awkward than it already is because you just can’t handle that right now. You’ve suffered enough... _everyone has suffered enough!_ You puff out air through pursed lips and brace yourself for the tension to come because you had no doubt that this would be the most uncomfortable mealtime you could ever possibly experience. 

You walk out of the kitchen and pass your eyes over the lobby, Angel, Vaggie and Charlie were sat around discussing dresses for the New Year’s party, Niffty was sat at the bar having a drink with Husk which in itself was a rare sight, the only one not present was Alastor you suppress a sigh “Okay dinner’s gonna be ready real soon so who wants to volunteer to get Alastor so we can all eat?!” You exclaim trying to make it sound like a good thing, you get absolutely no reply whatsoever. 

Your shoulders sag you should have guessed that wouldn’t work “Okay if one of you doesn’t volunteer to go get him then NONE of you are getting the sweets Angel and I bought for you all and we’ll just eat them all ourselves” you threaten. Now you could be wrong but you don’t think Charlie had ever moved so quickly! You watched her and Niffty race up the lobby stairs and disappear down the left-hand corridor. You scoff and Angel’s snickering from the far side of the lobby next to Vaggie. 

It doesn’t take long before you see Charlie and Niffty dragging a very confused looking Alastor quickly down the lobby stairs both of his wrists were being held by both of the girls, he looked incredibly uncomfortable with the amount of contact they were maintaining and both of them seemed out of breath by the time they reached you “Do-pant- d-do...hah...do we still get s-pant-sweets?” Charlie asks severely out of breath you purse your lips together in order to suppress a smile trying to look contemplative. 

You hum for a minute before replying “Yeah, okay I guess” she squeals along with Niffty, who really doesn’t look as though she needs the extra sugar before bypassing you into the kitchen in a rush nearly taking you off your feet, you laugh “okay guys let’s go eat, I think I’ve starved you all enough!” You yell walking into the kitchen to get the food out of the oven. You vaguely hear everyone taking a seat behind you while you’re plating up the food, it’s deadly quiet and you just dread turning around. 

When you do you nearly die all over again...the only seat left at the table just had to be the one in between Husk and Alastor...of fucking course...Angel’s trying to suppress laughter you can see it on his face when he catches your eyes, you glare him down so hard; he ends up keeping his eyes pinned to the table in front of him. You hand everyone their food before reluctantly slipping into your seat, boy if you thought it was uncomfortable from where you were stood then damn! The tension in your own seat was so thick you could cut it with a knife! 

Everyone starts eating rather slowly, Vaggie’s and Charlie’s eyes were glancing between you, Husk and Alastor, Niffty was just gobbling up food like she hadn’t eaten in forever. Angel was struggling to eat you could see his shoulders shaking from laughing so damn much, the worst part about that was that he was sat opposite you. It’s all you can bloody see, his shoulders shaking! You kick him harshly under the table but that just causes him to snicker quietly, you suppose you should be grateful he has the decency to not full out belly laugh at the table. 

You roll your neck and shoulders feeling unbelievably uncomfortable shovelling pasta into your mouth as if it would fix all your problems, great you’re fucking stress eating, perfect, just what you wanted! You look up to peer around the table Vaggie catches your eye and offers you a sympathetic smile “What did you and Angel get up to while you were out?” She asks trying to relieve the tension at the table just a bit. You could tackle her in a hug right now! 

You smile slightly “We just went for a walk, found this really cute sweet shop just up the road and bought far too many sweets” you reply she nods before putting another bite of food into her mouth and chewing slowly, _silence,_ you puff out your cheeks you were wrong to think that waiting for Alastor to wake up felt like being in a purgatory state because you firmly believe that this was purgatory right here! 

It’s taking forever for the time to pass you screw your face up trying to think of a topic everyone could talk about without it starting any more arguments, you guessed you could talk more about the party you glance to your left Husk was eating quietly he looked just as uncomfortable as you did, his eyes are about to shift to you so you quickly dart your eyes to the right Alastor was sat up perfectly straight, eating rather slowly you could see the fingers of his left hand tapping against his knee under the table as if he were nervous. 

_God this painful..._

You sigh loudly looking at Charlie “So the party’s in five days what are you planning on doing?” You ask trying to keep some kind of conversation going she grins “oh, few things actually, if we’re gonna have it in the Ballroom, which is a great idea, I think we should stick to an elegant theme again, maybe with more champaign colour’s this time?” Her reply comes out like a question, she’s asking for an opinion. You nod “That sounds nice, you could decorate most of the Ballroom in champaign coloured silk that’ll give the room a lighter tone in the evening” you add. 

She nods enthusiastically “That sounds wonderful, what do you think, Vaggie?” She asks excitedly turning to her partner, Vaggie beams at her cupping her cheek and stroking it gently “of course, mi amor” she replies lovingly. You smile it warmed your heart to see them becoming more comfortable with their relationship around the others you turn back to your food and finish eating quickly resting your fork on the plate you lean back in your seat “I might have made far too much so don’t worry if you guys feel like you can’t eat it all.” 

You rest your right arm on your bloated stomach, you regret trying to wolf it all down. Husk and Alastor rise from their seats in unison, rather quickly, you were worried their chairs would be sent halfway across the room from the sheer force. Your eyes widen as you watch them take everyone's dishes before standing at the sink and cleaning up in silence. Complete, tense, uncomfortable silence... 

You peer around the table to see if anyone else was as concerned as you were, but the only people with concerned faces were you, Charlie and Vaggie. Angel had a hand over his mouth, his cheeks were puffed out with air, there were tears streaming down his face...he was laughing so hard he was actually crying! Niffty just looked pleased that she wasn’t the one doing the cleaning for once as she escapes the room offering you a very quick thank you for the meal. 

Vaggie and Charlie get up to leave and you quickly rush to tell them that their sweets were in the brown bag with Niffty’s, Charlie offers to take Niffty’s to her before leaving the kitchen. That left you with a giddy Angel, and a rather tense-looking Husker and Alastor, you groan internally “You guys need a hand with that?” You offer, trying to break the tension “No!” They both reply in unison causing them to glare at each other before returning to their little task. 

Angel leans over the table and whispers “Chilly...” his eyes pinned to the backs of their heads, you’re glad to see he’s finally stopped laughing, you nod in agreement leaning the rest of the way over the table you whisper back “I think I can see my breath” he nods glancing at you with a serious expression before turning to look at them, seemingly wondering what to do “We can hear you; you know?” Alastor says without having to turn around the two of you shoot up from your seats muttering an apology before basically sprinting out of the room and toward the sweets on the opposite side of the lobby. 

Angel’s quickly inserting a DVD into the DVD Player for you to watch together and you were busy separating yours and Angel’s sweets from Husk’s and Alastor’s when they finally walk back into the lobby looking steamed, it seems like they’d been talking...or quietly arguing judging by the irritated looks on their faces. You and Angel share an eye-roll “Go back to your precious books, pompous prick!” Husk mutters angrily before storming back behind the bar, you bite your lip, this is an actual nightmare, sure their weird relationship was strained before but now even Alastor was looking at Husk loathingly. 

You could only hope that they’d settle this on their own time but that was seeming increasingly unlikely Alastor was about to ascend the stairs, most likely going to return to the library when you call out to him “Alastor, wait there I got you something!” You yell rummaging through the bag to find that drink you’d bought him, it was in a fancy looking, glass, red bottle for some reason it had to state that it was alcohol-free you could only assume there may be one exactly like it that had alcohol in it. 

You rush up the stairs to where he’d stopped, his expression had since turned soft “You didn’t have to get me anything, dear” he says quietly, though secretly he was ecstatic that you’d thought of him you shake your head “well, I know you’re not overly keen on sweet stuff so I had to ask the store owner what she could recommend so if you don’t like this then let me know, I don’t want to end up buying it again if you don’t like it.” You ramble handing him the bottle he smiles widely taking your right hand in his left he lifts it to his lips kissing the back of it softly in a way that caused butterflies to erupt in your stomach. 

“Thank you, my dear, I think I shall quite enjoy this” His eyes meet yours; he lets go of your hand to gently brush the back of his fingers against your cheek adoringly a loud cough interrupts the sweet moment you watch as Alastor’s eyes narrow as he side-eyes Husk who’s stood at the bar, beer in hand, glaring him down. Alastor drops his hand from your cheek when his eyes eventually meet yours again, he thanks you once more before turning to leave. 

You huff a little when you turn back to look at Husk his back is to you, he’s sat back on the boxes behind the bar with his legs propped up on the bar top you shake your head grabbing the chocolate you’d bought him from the bag, you don’t fail to notice the Angel’s already digging in to his sherbet, you round the bar walking behind it to where Husk was sat, you bend at the waist and drape your arms over his shoulders, making him jump, to hold the chocolate in front of his face you rest your chin on his right shoulder. 

“And for the extra grumpy kitty cat, chocolate, maybe that’ll sweeten up your foul mood,” you say jokingly you catch him smirking he takes the chocolate tearing open the wrapper and taking a bite with a small smile, you give him a slight hug from behind and turn to leave the bar. But Husk’s clawed hand grabs your wrist and yanks you into his chest he hugs you tightly, his chin ruffles the hair between your ears. 

For a while he’s quiet, you could hear his heart thudding harshly against his chest and you were sure that if you looked up, you’d see him blushing you smile at the thought his head dips down a bit “I missed you” he whispers softly into your ears making them twitch, you snuggle into him wrapping your arms around his neck tightly “what do you mean? I wasn’t out long-” you cut yourself off as you feel him shake his head above you “that’s not what I meant, I mean yeah I missed you then too, but I meant since the Christmas party I hadn’t seen much of you, I didn’t like that” he rushes, keeping his voice low and quiet. 

His voice sounded deeper than usual, you take in a deep breath “I missed you too Husk” you reply tilting your head to look up at him, his eyes are heavy-lidded, his arms tighten around your waist slightly before easing up again, he dips down toward you and for a minute your breath catches and your eyes widen slightly before his simply brushes the tip of his nose against yours and then dipping lower to lick your cheek lightly when he pulls his head back up to look at you he’s blushing heavily and he can’t seem to hold your gaze for very long. 

It’s cute, you find it incredibly adorable, but it also causes you to blush because you know that kiss, and it was technically a kiss to him, had meant more to him than it had before his confession, the last time he’d done that was the day after you’d been sick, the day you’d gotten ‘miraculously’ better. “Toots!” Angel shrieks making the both of you jump before grimacing “are ya’ comin’ to watch this movie with me or not!?” He yells you shake your head at Husk with an amused smile and he grins back you “wanna join us?” You ask jutting your head in Angel’s direction. 

He glances over before nodding and following you out of the bar space and over to the TV you both join Angel on the sofa under the blankets and start stuffing your faces with sweets watching the movie Angel had picked. Husk’s warmth was enough to keep the three of you from really needing the blanket but yet here you were all snuggled up like three peas in a pod. You’d long since finished all of your sweets and by this point, you’re convinced it must be the middle of the night. 

You turn to Angel after the third movie's credits were ending “How about a slumber party?” You suggest Angel jumps up from the sofa “Hell yeah! Now yer’ speakin’ my language, toots!” He exclaims excitedly; he starts tidying everything away Husk straightens up next to you stretching his arms up into the air he gets up from under the blankets and offers you a hand to help you up. 

Angel’s already waiting for you at the lobby stairs Husk grips your hand a little tighter to get your attention when you look at him, he’s rubbing the back of his neck looking shy “Can I talk to you for a minute?” He asks you nod, his eyes dart to Angel “Alone?” He adds Angel gives you this look as if he were asking if you’d be alright without him or if you wanted him to stay you smile and nod “it’s okay Angel I’ll be up in a minute, I assume we’re staying in your room, right?” You ask he nods “Well, duh!” He exclaims, giving you both one last glance he eventually wanders up the stairs and out of sight. 

You turn your head to look at Husk “What’s up?” You ask curiously he takes a deep breath “Well, first I wanted to ask how you were doing? I know you’ve had a lot of information pretty much dumped on you today” he says slowly you nod in agreement, yes, you most certainly had. You clear your throat before sighing “I’m okay, still processing but I feel better after getting out and relaxing for a bit, I know this can’t be easy for both of you guys either” you say resorting to not mentioning Alastor by name, you didn’t really wanna piss Husk off ever. 

He nods quickly as if dismissing that last part “That can’t be all you wanted to say” you add, searching his features for any hints as to what he might be thinking and coming up empty-handed “it wasn’t” he replies he looked like he was psyching himself up to ask you something it was really cute if you thought about it, he felt so nervous that he had to psyche himself up to ask you a question the thought made you blush lightly. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me tomorrow?” He asks, though you can tell he’s nervous when you look up into his eyes, he holds your gaze confidently, his stare was intense and expecting “what you mean like a date?” You ask trying to make absolutely sure you were hearing him correctly “not like a date, a date” he confirms confidently this time your breath catches for the thousandth time today, you guess you should have seen this coming but not today! Though it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know Husk a little better, it would also help you come to some kind of decision. 

“Yeah, I’d like that” you reply shyly, you can’t even look at him you’re sure that your face is all red, there are butterflies circling your stomach, you’re trying to tuck your hair behind your ear and failing miserably because you're not human anymore! His clawed hand grips your chin gently forcing your head up to meet his gaze, blush is dusting his cheeks, but he looks incredibly happy there’s a grin spread across his face. 

He ducks down to kiss your cheek, not lick it like he usually does but actually kiss it, when he pulls back, he leans his forehead against yours wrapping an arm around your waist pulling you closer to him you rest your hands on his upper arms his eyes are closed and he looks as though he’s in a state of pure bliss it warmed your heart “Thank you” he whispers you nearly huff he shouldn’t have to thank you for giving him a chance. But now you were nervous, “Husk, what should I wear? Where are we going? What time-” he cuts you off but not verbally. 

He plants a quick chaste kiss on your lips, so quick you don’t even get to close your eyes or respond at all it was literally meant to make you stop talking, his lips had been warm and soft and gentle. His face was almost bright cherry red at this point and you’re sure yours is exactly the same “Stop panicking, just wear something nice, we’ll leave here at eight tomorrow night and where we’re going is a surprise, okay?” You nod out of pure shock; your nerves were on fire this had been one heck of a day. 

With that sorted Husk walks you to Angel’s room, he plants one last kiss on your cheek and walks off down the hallway you assume he’s probably going to bed you take a deep breath and walk into Angel’s room without knocking, quickly slamming the door closed behind you, you sink down onto the floor against it capturing Angel’s attention “Hey, toots, everything okay?” He asks rushing over to you looking slightly worried you nod before looking up into his eyes “Husk asked me on a date” Angel squeals loudly. 

“Toots! I’m so proud of you, ooh, we’ll have to go shopping and get you something nice to wear!” He rambles on and on for a bit “Angel!” No reply...he’s still rambling “ANGEL!” You yell loudly he turns to look at you in shock “what?” He asks pulling a face that made it seem like he really wanted to say ‘what the fuck’ but you let it go for the time being “that’s not all” you say ambiguously Angel raises his eyebrows as if asking why you’ve stopped talking “he kissed me...” 

_Silence..._

He looks as though he’s about to freak the fuck out, there this huge shit-eating grin on his face “Please don’t freak out because I’m already freaking out” you say quietly you wait for a response a raspy sound makes its way out of his throat before he simply nods robotically when he eventually calms himself, he replies “there’s no need for ya’ to be freakin’ out, babes, I’m sure even Al is gonna kiss ya at some point, there’s no harm in it, it’s just a kiss” you can’t tell if he’s trying to convince you not to freak out or himself he shakes his head. 

He seemed to be collecting his thoughts when he speaks again “What kinda kiss we talkin’? I need details” he asks you roll your eyes getting up from the floor Angel follows suit locking the door and wandering over to sit on the bed, you pick up Fat Nuggets, who had sat beside you patiently waiting to be pet, “chaste, quick, gentle” you reply simply Angel nods leaning back to rest on his forearms “what happened before this kiss, what was the lead-up?” He asks seeming far too much like a detective. 

You huff “Actually I wouldn’t really call it a lead up; I was panicking about the date and he kissed me” Angel giggles “ah so it was a shush kiss” he replies you tilt your head making your way toward the bed you sit next to him still holding Fat Nuggets who was oinking happily “a what?” You say in confusion “a shush kiss, toots, it’s a kiss that guys do when their guy or gal is getting worried or panicked over nothin’, totally normal” he explains. 

You nod slightly, you don’t really get it, you just want to stop talking about it you felt sick to your stomach with nerves, Fat Nugs eventually wriggles out of your arms and Angel goes on talking about what you should wear to your date tomorrow, saying that he’d do your hair and make-up himself. A thought hits you while he’s talking...what will Alastor think? 

_For all intents and_ _purposes,_ _you’ve decided to stop breathing in the hopes that you will die a second time!_

“Uh, toots, you don’t look so good, you doin’ okay?” Angel asks noticing that you’ve stopped breathing and moving and...blinking. When you don’t reply he starts to get worried “Toots, no offence or anythin’ but yer kinda startin’ to freak me out!” He exclaims you shake your head and blink at him “what do I tell Al?” You suddenly question, panic starting to bubble its way to the surface again Angel just shakes his head “look ya’ need to stop worryin’, this is more of a gettin' to know ‘em period of time, just ‘cause it’s labelled a date doesn’t mean the two of ya’ are exclusive, technically it doesn’t mean shit” he replies soothing your fears a little but you still looked worried. 

Angel rolls his eyes, he could see the worry practically painted on your face, do you ever relax, ever? He sighs loudly “I can talk to ‘em if that makes ya’ feel better, I guess?” He offers trying not to seem too fussed but secretly he was super excited for you so if he could make this any easier for you then he would, you’ve had his back in much worse situations it’s the least he could do. You nod in reply he smiles “good, now let’s talk about something else, take your mind off of this date for a bit before we sleep.” 

You nod once again, enthusiastically this time, his eyes sparkle in excitement “Ooh, you should totally meet my gal, Cherri, she’d love you, toots” he says excitedly scrambling to get under the covers, you join him on the other side of the bed, “Cherri? You mean Cherri Bomb the girl who blew up that club a few months back and started that turf war you were part of?” You ask curiously he nods, happy that you’d remembered. 

“Yeah, babes, that’s the one we could meet up with her tomorrow, ya know if ya want?” He asks seeming excited you nod “sure, I'd like to meet her” you reply your mind wanders off wondering what she’s like, she’s a cyclopes demon, like Niffty, so you had a feeling she’d be excitable. You and Angel talk for another half an hour before eventually falling asleep. 

_Yet a certain winged cat was led on his back in a darkened room grinning from ear to ear staring up_ _at_ _the_ _ceiling_ _and for once he was excited to wake up the next morning, he had something to look forward to...you..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys, another nice and early update, I've recently had a huge burst of creative inspiration for this fic and have been planning Chapters like crazy there's some fun and terrifying plot twists for you guys to look forward to so updates may be more frequent than usual, I hope you don't mind! Thanks so much for the lovely comments, and thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	19. A Date with Husk!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today’s the day! You’re going out with Angel early to go dress shopping for your date, you’ve told him you don’t want anything too flashy and you can’t help but think he's getting a little too over excited over this, you just hope Cherri Bomb won’t be exactly the same... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Warning⚠️ Chapter's from here on out may start getting a little more explicit and I'm not talking about swear words! I shall be putting warning's up on those chapters if you don't wish to read them then skip ahead! 
> 
> You've been warned!  
> 😉😉😉

You wake to something making your cheek wet, there’s sniffing in your ear and soft oinking for a minute you crack your eyes open to see Fat Nuggets licking your face and generally just wanting some attention, you smile tiredly petting the cute pink pig with your right hand you use your left to rub the sleep from your eyes. When you look about the room you can see that Angel’s already up as his side of the bed is empty and you can hear the shower running in the bathroom you sit up in the bed and Fat Nugs takes to sitting in your lap.

You tut at him but you can’t help but grin he’s just too adorable, you’d happily die for this pig and you have no regret in thinking that, like at all! You hear the shower turn off and there’s shuffling around in the bathroom for a few minutes before Angel walks out all dressed with a towel wrapped around his head to keep his hair from wetting his clothes. He looks at you with a large grin “Who’s ready for a date tonight!?” He asks excitedly...you know you’d woken in a state of bliss and now that feeling was being replaced by this sense of dread as the memories of last night smacked you directly in the face.

Yeah, that’s right tonight you’d be going on your date with Husk...the guy who’d kissed you last night...Oh dear lord, what have you gotten yourself into! “Toots,  ya ’ can’t go  gettin ' all pale every time I mention it, and  ya definitely can’t get all pale when you see him  tonight, he’ll take it personal” Angel states sitting at his vanity towel drying his hair before plugging in his hair sparkly pink dryer. You rub your face with your hands, knowing that Angel was right didn’t make your nerves ease up it just made them worse!

You nod taking a deep breath “Okay what’s the plan today?” You ask trying to get a head start on this plan that you just knew Angel had made while he was showering “that's my girl! So, I already text Cherri we’re  gonna meet her at the first shop so  yer ’  gonna have a shower and get dressed, we’re  gonna have breakfast so  ya ’ don’t pass out on me and then we can go” he finishes turning to you with a cheeky grin. You take a deep breath to settle the moths in your stomach before he makes a shooing motion indicating that you were taking far too long to collect yourself.

You roll your eyes, lifting Fat Nuggets off of your lap you swing your legs over to the other side of the bed and get up placing Fat  Nugs on the floor you leave the room and head to your own when you arrive you lock your door behind you and head straight for your shower. You felt as though it had been forever but it actually hadn’t even when you were looking after Alastor while he was sick you still used your own shower, you simply refused to use his, sleeping on his couch had been nerve-wracking enough you didn’t need to be full out naked in his bathroom as well!

You undress and start the shower making sure the water was nice and hot before stepping in, you let out a loud sigh this was just what you needed the water was perfect you felt like melting and just never leaving but alas you had a busy day ahead and you had no doubt in your mind that Angel would go too great lengths just to get you ready, for example kicking your door down and dragging you out of this shower, you giggle at the thought but,  honestly, you’d rather not make it a reality...ever!

You wash your hair letting the lavender scent wash over you before rinsing it out and washing your body with the mint-scented soap. You finally step out of the shower, and pat yourself dry with a soft grey towel, unfortunately, due to the length on your hair you didn’t have the luxury of wrapping it up in a towel. You leave the bathroom and shove some random underwear on before towel trying your hair enough so that it wasn’t dripping wet which actually took a small while.

You then shove on a pair of ripped, black, skinny jeans, a green, plaid, button-up, top tied into a knot at the waist with long sleeves folded up to your elbow and you shove on black trainers before starting to blow dry your hair...which pretty much took a whole year to do...fucking hell that was a chore. With that done you tie it up into cute space buns again hoping that this time you wouldn’t get mugged have them become ruined again. When you’re sure that you’re done, you leave the room and go down to the lobby.

Everyone baring  Niffty and Alastor was already there, Husk was stood behind the bar as per usual and Angel was stood at it talking to him quietly and Vaggie and Charlie were stood by the stairs whispering to each other, overall, everyone present was being oddly...quiet. You clear your throat grabbing their immediate attention, all talking completely stopped and that’s when you knew they must have been talking about you. You turn your head toward Charlie and Vaggie “Do I even  wanna know?” You ask plainly, instead of answering they simply purse their lips together.

You huff looking over at Angel “Angel?” You ask hopefully he shrugs “sorry can’t help  ya ’, toots, it’s a surprise” he replies you sigh dramatically “okay, okay, I’ll just pretend that three of my closest friend’s aren’t keeping things from me, even though I got my ass handed to me for one of them!” You exclaim feigning hurt you see Angel grimace his shoulders sagging “ awh come on, toots!  Ya ’ can’t do that it’s not fair!” He yells following you into the kitchen you snicker in  amusement dropping the topic “fine it’s a secret let’s just eat and then go we shouldn’t keep your friend waiting too long.” 

You both have eggs on toast...well technically you have really cold eggs on really cold toast because it took forever for you to get Angel’s eggs ‘just right’ you roll your eyes, the both of you were halfway down the street heading toward the first shop. You could see it in the distance, you knew it was the shop you were heading to because bouncing up and down outside of it was the girl you could safely assume was Cherri Bomb.

She has blonde hair with pink and white accents in a half up half down style and appeared to be wearing a heavy coating of mascara. Her single eye has a bloodshot pink sclera and an X shaped pupil. Her skin is white with pink freckles on her face and right shoulder she wears a grey satin fingerless glove her left arm and has a tattoo sleeve on her right arm. She wears a red off-shoulder crop top, a black bra, with a reddish torn up mini skirt with two buttons on the front and black ripped leggings. On her left foot was a red and white boot and on her right was a similar coloured sock...

When the two of you eventually reach her Angel’s grinning, and, so is she “Hey nice to see  ya , Angie!” She exclaims excitedly “girl it had been far too long!” He yells back they look as though they’re ready to hug each other but they don’t “who’s  ya new friend? Introduce me!” She squeals locking eyes with you, you respond with a grin when Angel tells her your name “it’s nice to meet you, Angel, barely shuts up about  ya ” you greet her while flashing your eyes playfully over to Angel who gives you a playfully annoyed shove in return.

She laughs “Yeah I bet! It’s nice to meet  ya ’ Angie told me  ya got a date tonight? Congrats girl let’s get  ya ’  somethin ’ nice to wear, am I right?” She talks so fast you have to really strain yourself to hear everything she’s saying while making sure not to mishear her. You nod shyly and follow them into the first shop you had a feeling this would be a long and tedious  process ...

You were only too right about that...two and a half hours later you’ve been into four different shops and have basically tried on every dress they had to offer, it was either too colourful, didn’t suit your body shape, or too  _ ‘grandma  _ _ lookin _ _.’  _ You’d just about had enough, so much so that when you entered the fifth shop you felt like telling them that you would just pick something out from the clothes you had back at the hotel but you could only imagine Angel’s response to that. You think he’d probably have a bloody heart attack.

Cherri Bomb had been far more lenient with what you’d tried on she had liked a lot of the darker colours so she and Angel agreed to stick to darker colours in this shop, you were now five dresses in and slowly losing the will to live...for lack of a better word. You were now trying on a simple black, backless dress, with a halter neck and a slightly pleated skirt that flared out at the waist just a little you quite liked this dress, it stopped just above your knee and looked very classy. If they didn’t like this one then you’d be double damned.

You leave the changing room and huff catching their attention “If I have to try on one more fucking dress, I’m afraid I may have to commit mass murder” You say emotionlessly this experience had started off fun but you were so over it now their jaws drop and you can’t tell if they’re impressed or disgusted “toots, it’s perfect!” Angel exclaims you drop to your knees in exhaustion “oh thank fucking Lucifer for that!” You gasp, your feet were killing you Cherri giggles helping you back up her and Angel have this mischievous look in their eyes, of fuck what now!

“That’s the dress sorted, time to get shoes!” Cherri exclaims you groan as you’re forced back into the changing room. Another hour later and you’re done and you’ve officially exceeded the  amount of times you want to go shopping with Angel, the guy doesn’t know the meaning of the words ‘give me a break’ honestly! You were all on your way back having picked up a pair of cute black peep-toe heels that were a little taller than the grey ones you’d gotten for the Christmas party.

When you enter the hotel, you’re met by  Niffty and Alastor who was looking a little less smiley than usual, which could only mean he’d heard about that date somehow you send Angel this look and he leans down to whisper to you “What now? You want me to talk to him now!?” He asks in disbelief though he was trying his best to be quiet “please Angel, look at how sad he is, I know he’s very good at hiding it but...please” you whisper he rolls his eyes “ugh fine!” He huffs before standing up straight again “hey Al, can I talk to  ya for a sec?” He says walking as confidently as he can up to the Radio Demon who pulls a questioning face before nodding and walking away from the three of you.

While Angel was off comforting Alastor and trying to explain what was going on a bit better so that he’d feel less put out  Niffty’s firing off all kinds of questions at you that you just don’t know how to answer even Cherri's looking mildly dizzy “ Niffty I’m  gonna need to you to take a chill pill and calm down for a minute” you say walking toward the stairs leading Cherri to Angel’s room where he told you to get ready. 

Niffty takes a deep breath before starting again “When were you  gonna tell me that you and Husk were going on a date?!” She blurts you roll your eyes “he only asked me last night,  Niffty ” you reply simply Cherri laughs next to you “gal’s like us expect to know before  yer ’ asked” she jokes you scoff turning to her with a grin, you were really starting to like this girl, “when I learn how to predict the future, I’ll get back to you with that” you reply. You reach Angel’s room and open the door you quickly hang the dress up on the closet and  Niffty gasps “wait here I’m  gonna get Vaggie and Charlie!” She yells before rushing off.

You sigh, you were  gonna end up getting dressed in front of half of the hotel at this rate, you might as well get ready in the lobby you shiver the thought was unsettling Cherri sits on the end of the bed and you sit on the vanity stool feeling nerves starting to bubble to the surface again, now that you had the chance to just sit a breath you were starting to get anxious “ Ya ’  doin ’ okay?  Ya ’ look a little nervous” Cherri asks sympathetically you nod rubbing your arms “yeah I am, I haven’t been on a date in a really long time” she smiles sweetly.

“Girl, if I could give  ya ’ any useful advice it’s that the more  ya ’ think about it  goin ’ wrong the more nervous  yer ’  gonna be, whatever happens, whether the two of  ya ’ end up  makin ’  somethin ’ of it or not as long as  ya ’ both had fun and don’t make it awkward by over  thinkin ’ it’ll be totally fine” She reassures you and the more you thought about what she said the more you realized that she was right this could only go wrong if you worked yourself up over it you smile back at her “you’re right, thanks Cherri” she nods once and the both of you talk about random topics for a bit.

Niffty eventually arrived with Angel, Vaggie and Charlie in toe. Angel huffs rather loudly “Well I calmed him down as much as I could, toots, he’s obviously still a little worried but he’s got a better understanding of what’s going on now, so let’s get you ready!” He exclaims. The others sit down on the bed and chat for a bit you were secretly wondering how tonight would go. 

You wondered where he’d take you, what he’d be wearing, if he’d be shy and embarrassed or more confident, you start humming a song lost in thought a song that apparently Vaggie recognized “I’ve got a tight grip on reality but I can’t let go of what’s in front of me here!” She sings beautifully and you join in with a grin “I know you’re leaving in the morning when you wake up, leave me with some kind of proof it’s not a dream, oh!” Eventually, the both of you finish the song and Charlie along with the others start clapping. You blush brightly before the two of you laugh it had been some time since you’d heard that song...

Meanwhile, down in the lobby Husk was already dressed and waiting for you, he’d planned everything he’d been so busy he hadn’t even drunk a single beer today; he was so nervous and suddenly he hears something that he hadn’t heard before coming from Angel’s room it was you and Vaggie singing some song that must be from your time because he’d never heard of it before. But he couldn’t help but think that you sang it beautifully.

Alastor had heard it as well, from his spot in the library, faint at first but when he strained his hearing it became much clearer, he’s positive that you’d never sang before inside the hotel, if at all, but he found himself wishing you’d do it more often already it was such a lovely sound when it  ended, he found himself repeating it in his head over and over again.

Angel had clipped your hair back up off your shoulders and curled a few strands to frame your face and give everything an ‘evening look’ you roll your eyes “Are you excited?” Charlie asks with a slight grin you take a deep breath thinking for a minute, were you excited? Sure, you knew you were nervous and, honestly, you could even go as far as to say you felt a little nauseated but were you excited? You nod timidly “A little, but I’m trying not to make a big deal out of it, it’s just dinner, we’ll talk get to know each other a little better...nothing too dramatic” you reply firmly, hoping that the rest of them weren’t making a huge thing of this.

You watch as Charlie nods slowly  Niffty jumps straight in with another question “Do you think Alastor will ask you on a date tomorrow?” Your eyes widen in shock and Angel nearly pokes your eye out with the eyeliner, he huffs “hold still...” he mutters, you mumble a quiet apology before looking back at  Niffty “I have no idea, you know him better than I do, what do you think?” You question back you watch her bite her lip, thinking, screwing up her face rather cutely before she shrugs “I don’t know” she replies truthfully.

You wonder how different a date with Alastor would be compared to a date with Husk...would there be much of a difference at all aside from the conversation? All of these questions running through your mind and you didn’t have an answer to one of them. Vaggie checks the time and shoots up, “I’ll go get us all some sandwiches and such it’s still pretty early and you guys don’t leave till eight you’re  gonna want something to settle your stomach at least” She heads out to get you guys food.

And you continue to let Angel make you a masterpiece once again, you resort to waiting until you’ve finished eating before getting dressed, Angel starts playing some upbeat music and you all sit around and chat waiting for Vaggie to get back, you’re not used to spending so much time with the girls “Niffty, how far along have you gotten with the decorating in the Ballroom?” You ask she grins her eye widens making you slightly uncomfortable “pretty far actually, I’ve finished the ceiling, we had to replace the chandelier as well but it’s coming along nicely” You nod you felt bad you hadn’t been working for the past few days.

“I’ll give you a hand with the rest tomorrow if you like” You offer though you were going to help her even if she told you not to but thankfully, she nods enthusiastically and Vaggie returns with a large tray full of sandwiches, you were starving! You all dig in as if you’d been starved for days and you bet it wasn’t often that Cherri ate with others but she looked happy, it made you hope that she’d think about becoming a guest here, now that she knew Angel was living here...you don’t know but you think maybe it might be good for him he seemed to perk up loads when he saw her.

When you’ve all finished eating you quickly change into your dress and shoes, Angel has to fix your hair a little, but eventually, you’re ready, and that was more than a little scary for you the girls leave saying something along the line of ‘we want to see what Husk’s reaction will be!’ Angel stands you in front of his full-length mirror “Take a minute to yourself, breath and come down when you’re ready and toots?” You look at him questioningly so nervous you’re unable to answer he gives your shoulder slight  squeeze “you look fabulous” he finishes before leaving you to collect yourself. 

You take a deep breath peering at yourself with a scrutinizing gaze in the mirror looking for any flaws and stopping yourself short...Husk wouldn’t notice any flaws so neither should you! You brush your new dress over admiring the way it flattered your curves you had a feeling your new shoes would cause you a little bit of grief but it’s not a date if you don’t come home with horrific blisters, right? You swallow thickly “Well, it’s now or never...” you mutter to  yourself; you straighten up your shoulders and steel your nerves before leaving the room.

You walk slowly down the hallways trying to breathe deeply in order to keep your nerves at bay but the closer you got to the Lobby the more nervous you got. You tried to take your mind off of it by looking at the paintings but didn’t help either when you got to the hallway that led to the lobby you freeze. Your hands were shaking because you suddenly realised, you’d be sharing a lot of things about yourself with Husk tonight...but that’s the whole point, you remind yourself.

You force your feet to walk forward taking purposeful steps it takes all of your restraint not to clench your hands into fists by your sides as you reach the top of the lobby stairs. Everyone was there...fucking hell no pressure then, right? The girls and Angel are stood next to the wall opposite the bar their eyes frantically flicking between you and Husk. Alastor was stood by the kitchen doors looking almost starstruck for some reason it made you feel incredibly guilty like maybe you shouldn’t have put so much effort in.

Husk was stood in the centre of the lobby grinning from ear to ear it caused you to smirk a bit when you finally reach him, he speaks “You look beautiful” He whispers in awe and you can’t help but grin, he’s dressed in a suit, black suit pants, dress shoes, a white button-down shirt, his usual red bowtie and instead of a blazer or a suit jacket he’s wearing a black waistcoat, his shirt sleeves with rolled up to his elbows. He looked smart but it was a relaxed kind of smart it suited him.

“You clean up pretty good, too” You reply, smirk ever-present, he offers you a hand “shall we?” You grin taking it, you're so glad he’s much warmer than you are because you were freezing and it’s still the middle of winter so you had no doubt it would only get worse. You nod and he leads you toward the entrance everyone bids you goodbye and wishes you a good time, all but one.

You walk with Husk down the somewhat busy streets other denizens were out drinking and partying, or looking for a hook-up for the night “So, am I allowed to know where we’re going now?” You ask curiously Husk laughs deeply, it’s a sound that rumbles in his chest like a deep bass “you really don’t like surprises, do you?” He asks with an amused grin when he catches your eyes, he quirks a single long-ass eyebrow you shake your head “don’t worry, we’re nearly there” he replies not really answering your question.

You huff a lightly you walk a little longer before coming to a stop at a place that was oddly familiar, it was Charlie’s safe spot where she takes Vaggie for their dates you look up with a questioning yet pleased expression “So, I had to ask Charlie for special permission to take you here I thought you’d enjoy actually eating here instead of falling asleep on the wet grass” he snickers at the memory and you bite your lip as he leads you through the trees and to the table, which was already set up.

_ Yeah, you were totally asleep... _

You bet that’s one thing you’d be admitting to at some point during this date. He pulls your seat out for you to take “Ah, what a gentleman” you say with a tone of surprise he grins tucking your seat in slightly before rushing to sit in the one opposite you. You glance around the fairy lights were your favourite thing about this place because it made up for Hell not having stars, they didn’t come close to real stars, of course, but they made up for it, definitely. “What are you thinking so hard about?” He asks your eyes dart to his.

His eyes were alight and his cheeks were a little red “I was just thinking about how much I miss stars” his eyes grow soft “stars?” He whispers questioningly you nod “Mike and I would sit in our favourite tree eating Oreos really late into the evening at our old childhood home, and because it was  kinda in the middle of nowhere you could see the stars really clearly, I miss them” you reply slowly. 

You and Husk share a lovely meal together and for once he laughs freely instead of holding it in, he tells you why he got into magic apparently his family had owned a casino when he was young and sometimes, he’d mess around there so some of the customers showed him  sleight of hand tricks and ever since he then he’d wanted to learn them. You couldn’t help but find that so completely adorable.

Later into the evening when you’ve finished eating, the conversation slowly starts to turn a little heavier, getting into the deeper stuff, Husk catches your eyes he’d been holding your hand from across the table to comfort you “Can I ask why you and...what was his name again?” You smile sadly, you knew this one would come up “Dave?” You reply Husk nods “That’s the one, can I ask why you two split?” He questions trying to be sensitive he could sense your anxiety and he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.

You think for a minute trying to figure out what to say “Well, my dad was a major prick, if he met a guy that wasn’t afraid of him then he instantly disliked them, Dave wasn’t afraid of my father...” you trail off, he should have been you father was an awful man you could feel Husk’s bright amber eyes on you like a heavy weight “he never approved of Dave and, honestly, I didn’t want to see him get hurt so I ended it” you reply regretfully.

It had been a sacrifice you were willing to make, you’d already lost too much to the wretched man Husk squeezes your hand gently when you lift your eyes to meet his you smile, he’s giving you a sympathetic gaze and yet he also looks furious it’s a strange mix. He starts to talk about his life a little more like what had happened when he joined the war, who he’d lost, he’d met his wife when he was in the war though, technically, he was on leave, one night he’d gone out to have a drink with his friends and he’d met this beautiful, tall, blonde woman.

And he’d fallen in love instantly there was this lovestruck look on his face when he spoke of her, you couldn’t help but be swept away by his life story, yours had been rather boring but his was so interesting you almost wished you’d been there to see it unfold. Unfortunately, he’d been called back to the war due to dwindling ranks, they’d married by this time and she had been pregnant. You could tell something awful was about to happen.

And it did, she’d fallen terribly ill and had to take herself to a doctor close by their small apartment home when she had been mugged and left for dead in the cold street neither her nor the baby survived. You could feel tears prickling your green eyes as he finished telling you what had happened, the drinking, the depression. He never spilt the beans on what he’d done to get down here but then again neither had you. 

You both sat in silence for a bit simply taking in the new information you’d chosen to share with each other, and when you look at each other again you knew that you’d both have to call it a night, you were both emotionally wrecked, you weren’t sure that you were expecting your date to have gone like this but you’re still glad you did it. Husk leads the way out through the trees and back onto the street.

Your walk home was silent, Husk’s arm was wrapped around you providing you with a little bit of warmth, he really was like a radiator or even the sun, it was nice. You arrive back at the hotel carefully walking up the rotten wood steps trying not to be too loud, it was quite late into the night and you didn’t want to wake anyone. Wordlessly he walks you to your room, you secretly wonder what he’s thinking about, perhaps he hadn’t expected the date to like that either?

He stops outside your door his eyes were pinned to it but there was this faraway look in them you could tell instantly that he wasn’t looking at your door but rather he was looking through it to some unseen place that you could follow. You take one of his hands and squeeze it gently his eyes shoot down to yours in surprise as if he’d forgotten you were there before he releases a breath and smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes, he plants a quick kiss on your cheek and mumbles a quiet good night before walking away down the corridor and disappearing out of sight. 

You stare after him, confused as ever, yesterday he’d been so affectionate he’d even daringly kissed you but today he seemed a little distant, though he’d smiled and held your hand and kissed your cheek everything felt as though the feeling had slowly faded throughout the night. You shake your head opening your door and walking in you lock it behind you and quickly get changed into your pyjamas. 

Absentmindedly, you start to take the pins out of your hair, yes, this date had not gone how you initially thought it would, but you knew Husk on a deeper level now, and so did he, that was enough. You wipe the make-up that Angel had put so much hard work into off of your face before brushing your teeth and climbing into bed.

You simply lay there for a bit, you were now extremely curious as to what a date with Alastor would be like, but you suppose you’d have to wait and see if he even asks first, he’d seemed a little down earlier, maybe you should talk to him tomorrow? Find out what wrong? But first, you needed sleep, you roll over facing your back to the door and drift off quietly into sleep.

_ Unaware of the emotional turmoil you’d caused in a certain deer demon who was still very much awake and would be for the rest of the night. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 19 done and dusted, I hope you guys enjoy this one, a slightly melancholy date, and it seemed Husk had something on his mind, I wonder what it was? All comments are grately appreciated and thanks for reading! :D


	20. The Morning After...(But Not Like That!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an unexpectedly melancholy date with Husk, you’re rudely awoken extremely early in the morning by frantic knocking on your bedroom door. You answer it to a tired-looking Alastor...who’d definitely been up all night! (3 days till the New Year’s Party!) 

It was very early in the morning, so early that the sky was still dark outside and you’d probably gotten about four solid hours of sleep but that appeared to be all you’d be getting as frantic, loud, persistent knocking on your bedroom door jolted you from your sleep, who the fuck could that be? You think blearily “I’m coming!” You yell rubbing sleep from your eyes, the knocking stutters to a stop as you swing your legs to the side of the bed throwing the nice warm blanket off of you. 

You shiver, hugging your elbows you walk slowly to the door and open it yawning tiredly you look up to see Alastor, there are slight bags under his eyes, he’s wringing his hands together looking embarrassed and tense all at once you glance at the time on your clock and your jaw drops it’s six in the bloody morning! “Al, what are you doing up? It’s like the middle of the night!” You exclaim yawning again, you couldn’t stop yourself. 

He hangs his head “Yes, I’m aware that it’s frightfully early, and I tried waiting until the time was more reasonable but I’ve been up all night thinking and I can bear it no longer!” You’re shocked, to say the least, the Radio Demon had been up all night? Doing what? It seemed from your view he’d been tearing his hair out “I need to speak with you, or I may really go insane, please?” He begs, his voice is so soft, there’s no static in the air he sounds almost desperate you thought Angel had soothed his worries yesterday and maybe he had but it hadn’t lasted. 

He’d been sat alone in his room thinking about what may happen if you chose Husk instead and every time, he thought of it the heart he didn’t even know he had broke, shattering into a thousand tiny little pieces. “Okay, just give me two minutes tops and then we can talk, okay?” You reply you hoped he could wait because you really needed to get changed and brush your teeth if you’re going to be talking a lot. He nods and you shut the door slightly so that you could get ready. 

Once you’ve gotten yourself dressed, throwing on an oversized grey t-shirt and some black leggings with black trainers, you quickly brush your hair and teeth and then tie your hair into a high ponytail you walk back to your door opening it again. Alastor hadn’t moved, not a single inch, you let out a breath “Okay, I’m ready” no sooner had the words left your lips he had grabbed your hand and started pulling you down multiple hallways and up what felt like fifty flights of stairs before you realized that he was probably dragging you to his room. 

You don’t question it; you feel that maybe he thinks there would be fewer prying ears on the floor that only he stayed on. He opens the door and you follow him in willingly, he’d kept his room tidy for once...that’s a nice change. You sit on the sofa next to his bed and he sits down next to you, a nervous, fidgety ball of energy “What’s wrong, Al? You look worried?” You ask you watch as he digs his nails into his knees tensely your eyebrows furrow. 

You take one of his hands lifting it gently from his knee and hold it, trying to reassure him without words that it was okay he finally takes a deep breath “That effeminate fellow spoke with me yesterday” he starts, you nod, yes Alastor I’m well aware, who do you think made him do that!? You think smugly waiting for him to continue he squeezes your hand as if it would take all of his worries away. He clears his throat “He explained everything to me, though it took him forever to do so, is he always so articulate?-” You sigh he’s getting off track. 

You know it’s because he’s nervous but in order for you to settle his fears a little he needed to keep himself on track “Alastor,” you warned gently his eyes dart to yours before looking away again “ah right, my apologies, I guess this whole idea of yours just has me a little...” he trails off and you can tell from his tensed form that he doesn’t want to admit that he’s feeling anxious you purse your lips together. 

You sigh “Look just because Husk and I went on a date that doesn’t mean I’ve come to a decision yet; I’m just trying to get to know you both a bit better, and it’s really hard to do that when there are others in this hotel that end up demanding my attention.” You explain calmly you watch as he nods his head listening intently “And a kiss is just a kiss, it’s perfectly normal, especially in my time” you add you didn’t want him thinking that Husk was somehow better than he was just because he’d kissed you that was ridiculous, you’d done way worse though technically you were human at the time. 

He nods again thoughtfully; his hands had stopped flexing every so often and you took that as a good sign that maybe you had quelled his fears a little, he looks up at you with questioning eyes “Does that mean I can ask you on a date too?” He asks and you nearly laugh at how sweet he sounds but instead you smile brightly “of course!” You reply he nods “is tomorrow too soon?” He asks once again you shake your head with a bright grin “tomorrow’s perfect!” You exclaim. 

He smiles widely for a moment before his features are overcome with a serious expression “Does this also mean I get to kiss you as well?” He asks quietly your stomach erupts with butterflies, what right now? The question doesn’t leave your quivering lips instead you blush slightly “I don’t see why not.” He cups your right cheek stroking it gently and you get the feeling that this kiss would last far longer than Husk’s small peck had. His eyes were heavy-lidded and unusually bright, bathing your face in a red glow, not that you needed it your cheeks felt as though they had been set on fire. 

He closes the distance between you, his lips brush against yours lightly sending a shock through your stomach and all the way up your spin causing you to jolt up slightly closing the small gap between you he lets out a quiet but startled sound before closing his eyes, you snap your eyes shut too, your stomach felt like a fluttery mess and your head was scrambled instantly. His lips were soft and warm against yours, inexperienced, which you had been expecting, but you had a feeling he’d be a quick learner. 

He parts from you slowly and rests his forehead against yours, you open your eyes and just stare into his for a while, the two of you could very well have been sat there for hours and you couldn’t care less, you didn’t even want to move. The hand on your cheek was calloused and warm as his thumb stroked along your cheekbone tracing it lightly. You were a tingly mess and you couldn’t deny that you had most definitely enjoyed that kiss more. 

“Well, I most certainly want to do that again” he whispers, his breath fanning over you was cool, a welcoming contrast to what your face felt like “but we should probably head downstairs now, everyone will be up already and wondering where we are” he’s got a good point and you both remember what happened last time when you joined everyone late...you shiver a little before nodding and you both walk arm in arm toward the lobby. 

On your walk, the two of you make arrangements for your date tomorrow “What should I wear?” You ask you’re trying not to seem like you’re panicking because, honestly, as nervous as you had been about your date with Husk it had nothing on the anxiety welling up within you about this one! Alastor smiles knowingly “Just wear something warm, dear, we’ll be heading out at eleven” he states you’re shocked eleven at night! That’s a bit late “Eleven o’clock at night that’s a bit late for a date, don’t you think!?” You exclaim in disbelief he simply laughs “no, my dear, in the morning” he clarifies. 

Oh...well that’s better you guessed...you nod slowly as the lobby started to come into your field of view, the two of you don’t even pause at the top of the stairs you simply continue your walk while surveying the room, Angel was sat at the bar probably asking for details about your date from Husk and getting nowhere Charlie and Vaggie are huddled together on the sofa under a blanket in front of a well-lit fire and Niffty’s manically dusting everything. 

Alastor turns to you with a soft and gentle smile meant only for you “Dear, would you like me to make breakfast this morning and give you a break for a bit?” He offers kindly, he must know that you’re still a little wary of eating his food but he also needed to gain that trust back somehow...you nod “you know what I’d like that because I’m sick of racking my brain for new ideas” you reply with a grin, you felt as though a weight had been lifted from both of your shoulders. 

He nods with a genuine grin “Wonderful, darling, you sit and relax and I won’t be long” he says enthusiastically relieved that you’d accepted his offer and what happens next stuns both you and literally everyone else in the room he leans down and very quickly, though not as quickly as Husk had, plants a kiss on your lips once more before straitening up again. When he walks away, he mumbles something and apparently yours and Husks ears are the only ones strong enough to pick up what he said ‘ _yes, I could definitely get used to that.'_

_You blush brightly as you watch him disappear through the kitchen doors..._

You dread looking at the others your face must have taken on a similar hue to Alastor’s red coat by now, you take a discreet peek at the others and immediately regret it, their eyes are wide and glued to you, their jaws are dropped and you’re not even sure if they’re breathing. For a while it’s silent but it’s not silent for long enough, Angel, Charlie, Vaggie and Niffty rush up to you three of which were excitedly squealing and asking what had happened and one of which was looking slightly concerned but still mildly interested. 

You have to tell them all to take a second to breathe, you felt like if you had to listen to them talking without breathing you might hyperventilate for them you all head over to the sofa where you curl up under the blankets with Charlie and Vaggie, who immediately go back to hugging, and Angel and Niffty sit on the floor next to the sofa with their backs to the fireplace. “Was that your first kiss with Alastor we were just privy too, toots?” Angel asks excitedly...thank Lucifer it wasn’t! You shake your head no and they all gasp, someday they’re gonna need that air but they’ll have wasted it on gasping! 

“So that was your second kiss with Alastor?!” He exclaims his eyes widening even more you nod “what was the first one like?” Charlie asks there are stars in her eyes, of course, she’s a hopeless romantic and you can't help but be right there with her but you also didn’t feel like you should be discussing this in front of Husk but you were planning on being majorly busy today “can we talk about this after breakfast, he asked me on a date and I need to find a nice outfit, you guys can help me and I’ll tell you everything then” they nod a little sombrely. 

But it doesn’t take you all long before you’re discussing the party, the Ballroom was almost ready, just a few more decorations to put up and it would be ready, Charlie, of course, had called her parents to invite them. Overall, everything was going smoothly Vaggie had been making sure that the rooms were ready for the guests that would be arriving a few weeks after the party you were all incredibly excited about it. 

Alastor steps out of the kitchen and calls out to you all “Breakfast is ready!” You all jump up and literally none of you fails to notice the sharp glares that Husk and Alastor exchange as Husk is walking past him into the kitchen, you all share wary looks before continuing on you were the last to pass Alastor, he follows you in and pulls your seat out, you can’t help but grin you sit down in the exact seat you had sat in when you first arrived at the hotel...so many memories, most of them fond and some of them...not... 

You shake your head; a fresh start calls for a little bit of trust in that this time it won’t be messed up. Husk was quietly stewing in his seat and the rest of you were chatting Alastor hands you a plate of scrambled eggs before serving everyone else, you could literally see the restraint it had taken him not to throw Husk’s dish at him before sitting down at the table next to you. You don’t even hesitate you’re the first one to dig in much to everyone’s surprise...which includes Alastor. 

Your face lights up, despite being wary you had really missed his cooking, sure you could cook well and your food tasted decent but his cooking really was on a whole other level to yours you hum “That’s really good, thank you, Alastor!” You beam at him before continuing to eat everyone else joins in with shocked faces except Alastor he was grinning from ear to ear, he’d never been so happy he wanted to sweep you up in his arms and never let you go. 

You finish your food first, and Niffty wasn’t far behind you both end up chatting about what she had left to do in the Ballroom; apparently, Charlie had bought some cute window decorations and wanted to put those up, which you volunteered to do Niffty had to re-gloss the doors to the Ballroom as it was severely chipped. All Charlie had to worry about then was the party food which she was heading out to do today with Angel but not after helping you find an outfit for tomorrow. 

You take the dishes when everyone’s finished and start cleaning them, Vaggie hip bumps you with a grin she’s holding a towel and you can tell she’s missed this, secretly, she’s missed criticizing Alastor’s food, she’s missed everyone giving each other nervous looks, she’s even missed cleaning the dishes with you. You smirk and hand her a clean dish to dry, you can’t help but think that you’ve missed this too, it just felt right. 

You both put the plates and cutlery away and you’re immediately whisked away by the girls and Angel but not before giving Alastor an eye roll, he simply smiled offering you a wave he knew exactly what you’d all be getting up to it didn’t bother him, not one bit. You reach your room and let everyone in like a flood you snicker as Angel heads straight to your wardrobe “I hope ya’ at least have a vague idea as to where ya’ goin’ this time, toots, ‘cause workin’ blind sucks!” He says, sifting through all of your clothes, it made you a little nervous Angel was basically some weird fashion god in this hotel so to see him sifting through your wardrobe made you a little worried. 

“Well, he said to wear something warm, and the dates at eleven in the morning, so I assume it’s gonna be outside and maybe somewhere a little chilly?” You reply with a lilt you hadn’t meant to but now Angel knew just as much about this date as you did and it’s really not very much! He hums for a minute before nodding “okay, I’d say go with the red jumper dress, thermal black leggings, those cute boots with the little heel and...I have a cute scarf you can borrow” He suggests as if it were an open and closed case. 

You nod, everyone practically dives onto your creaky bed and sits cross-legged with their heads resting in their hands waiting for you to explain what had happened and before you can even open your mouth Angel butts in “Don’t leave out any details! From the minute you got up to the minute you came to the lobby what happened?!” He asked loudly you huff with a smirk before nodding “Okay, so I woke up at about six this morning to Alastor knocking on the door, apparently, he’d been up all night stressing-” you shoot a pointed look to Angel. 

He holds out all four of his arms as if to say ‘what the fuck did I do?’ but you ignore him “-So I got dressed and he dragged me to his room so we could talk...” you trail off because Vaggie and Angel wolf-whistle at the same time you tut at them “do you want me to tell you everything or not because I won’t be saying anything if you keep going like that!” You threaten, feeling your cheeks turn red again! That was yet another part of you that you wished you could control but couldn’t. 

They immediately shut their mouths and wait for you to continue “I had to explain I hadn’t made a decision yet and once I’d finished, and he understood everything better he asked me on a date which I agreed to and then he asked if he could kiss me...which I also agreed to...” you mumble the last part but they still heard it and you bet that Alastor and Husk could hear their squealing from wherever they were in the hotel, which FYI they could! 

“You agreed to kiss him?!” Vaggie exclaims you couldn’t tell if she was mad or just shocked you nod sheepishly “It would have been unfair to let Husk kiss me and not allow Alastor the same leniency and at least he asked! Husk just went for it!” You exclaim trying to justify the fact the actually since the last time Alastor had tried to kiss you and was interrupted it had been all you could think about, embarrassingly enough! 

“What was it like?” Angel asks Niffty’s nodding sporadically like she wanted to know too. You cast your mind back to this morning...bad idea...do not blush! You take a deep breath to calm yourself “well, it was a lot longer than Husk’s, his lips were soft and gentle, I could tell he hadn’t really done it before but something tells me he’s a fast learner” you were waiting prepared for the next question simply because you knew Angel would ask it “so which one did you prefer, toots?” Yep, there it was! 

You blush bright fucking red and that was answer enough they all grin even Vaggie is grinning Niffty hums in a sassy manner turning to the others “I know who I’m placing my bet on!” She exclaims jokingly, though you had no doubt there was a little bit of truth in there the others giggle Charlie and Angel nod and Vaggie crosses her arms “well I hope you’re wrong because I’m rooting for Husk” you roll your eyes “can we not make this a competition I already feel bad that I’m gonna be letting one of them down already I don’t need you guys forming favourites!” 

They nod and after a minute of talking, you all leave your room Charlie and Angel get ready to go out to buy the party food and alcohol. Vaggie ends up staying in the lobby with Husk watching TV and taking the day off, she’d been super busy, you, on the other hand, follow Niffty to the Ballroom. She’d definitely been a busy bee there was champagne coloured silk draped beautifully above you in waves making the ceiling appear lower and warmer, that same silk hung down the walls on either side of the room, the walls had been painted white with an elegant gold pattern. 

The piano looked all clean and practically brand new, you had no doubt Alastor would take the party as a chance to show off his skill, but you weren’t complaining he played beautifully. You take the window decorations; they were gold glittery stars and they simply stuck to the windows you get started on placing them and quickly find yourself humming a tune, usually, it would be Niffty doing that but you guessed you were just in a very good mood. You lost yourself as you decorated. 

Meanwhile, Alastor had been sat in the Library, reading, sort of. Actually, he’d been waiting for everyone to disburse so he could speak with a certain demon, he’d been listening to you all chatting in your room, unintentionally, he shifts in his seat remembering how you’d reacted to the kiss, he hadn’t been expecting you to close the distance like that it was almost like a shock had gone through you, he could hear your heart pounding in his ears and it made him feel better to know he wasn’t the only one. 

But he’d loved every minute of it and yes, he wanted to it a lot more, if you’d allow it, of course, he may be a monster, but he would never take advantage of someone in that way, he despised people like that. When he was sure that you and Niffty were busy and Charlie and the effeminate fellow had left the hotel he left the room, walking with purpose to see the one demon he never really talks to. He found her in the lobby watching the news channel. 

He strides over and leaves a little distance between himself and her what he was about to do would painful enough he didn’t need to risk making it worse by being within spear distance this woman was hot-headed enough he clears his throat successfully capturing her attention she looks surprised and honestly, he didn’t blame her “I need to ask you something” he states that it’s regarding you she pulls a confused face nearly making him laugh “what about her?” She replies. 

He takes a deep breath and reminds himself exactly why he’s doing this before asking “It’s less about her and more for her I suppose, I believe it would make her feel safer if she had a friend, who she trusts deeply come along with us tomorrow” the moth demons eyes widen as if she had been surprised, he’d even thought of it never mind the fact that he was asking her “and you’re asking me? What about Angel or Charlie?” She asks curiously he pinches the bridge of his nose. 

I see I’m going to have to explain everything to this girl, he thinks in irritation “Because, although Angel appears to be a good friend to her, I feel he would annoy me more not exactly an ideal mood I want to be in on this so-called ‘date’ and though Charlie would have been my preferred choice this isn’t about what I want” he explains, no, indeed this was entirely about you and if he thought you’d feel safe with the dreaded moth demon there then he would ask her on your behalf. 

Vaggie nods with a serious expression she was glad to see that he was taking your comfort so seriously that he was willing to put his own aside “Okay, I’ll do it for her” she replies and he nods no comes the hard part “thank you” he says sincerely before turning and walking up the stairs to the library once again leaving a dumbfounded Vaggie and an equally shocked Husk she turns to him with a worried look “You’re gonna have to up your game because that-” she starts, pointing toward the stairs “-that was downright impressive!” She finishes before turning back to the TV. 

You finish decorating the windows and Niffty rushes over “I’ve finished the doors, need any help?” She asks apparently bursting with energy, you shake your head with a grin “nope, I’m finished too, looks like we can take the rest of the day off!” You exclaim that’s right, with Charlie and Angel out getting the food and drink you were all set for the party, Charlie had already told you, Angel and the girls that you’d be going out the morning of New Year’s Eve to get your outfits for that night. 

With nothing else to do you and Niffty clear away tools and wander to the lobby with every intention of relaxing. It seemed that Angel and Charlie were back already, shopping put away and were now sat talking suspiciously quietly with Husk and Vaggie, you and Niffty send each other curious glances before interrupting “Hey what are you guys chatting about!?” You exclaim making them jump, you laugh, they should have seen their faces! 

It’s Vaggie who jumps up looking both guilty and giddy “I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise, sorry!” She yells, huh? You tilt your head had Alastor told her something about the date he’d planned? That means they would have had to speak civilly you weren’t sure that they were capable of that...nevertheless the fact that they had made you extremely curious you huff “awh come on guys, not this shit again!” You yell but the best they can offer you is apologetic smiles. 

You groan before hearing dress shoes walking down the hallway to your right butterflies stirred at the sound Alastor appears by your side smiling gently “Hello, dear” he greets you swallow thickly “hey, Al, what have you been up to?” You ask casually he grins “reading, my dear, though I did take a short detour on my way here to see the ballroom you and Niffty did a lovely job with the decorating” he compliments, you beam at him “thanks!” You were amazed that he’d noticed considering you really hadn’t done much. 

He turns to the rest of the room “Well, if everyone’s hungry I think I shall start making dinner now” he announces making his way to the kitchen “Alastor” you call out when he turns to look at you, you nearly lose the nerve you’d built up “would you like some help with that?” You ask timidly his grin was extremely bright and so adorable it should be illegal to be so lethal and yet so cute all at once he holds out a hand for you to take “I’d like that very much, darling” you look down at your feet as you walk up to him, partly because you felt so jelly legged you might fall, and partly because if you looked at him you would turn tomato red. 

You also hadn’t failed to realize everyone had watched the scene unfold you take his hand in a gentle grip and he tugs you into the kitchen with him “This is nice, dear, I wasn’t expecting you to want to help” he says truthfully you wash your hands, as does he, and shake your head with a small smile tugging at the corners of your lips “I have to admit the last time we did this was nice, I’d never cooked with anyone before, you made it a pleasant experience for me” you admit. 

When you eye him, you see that his eyebrows are raised in shock but he shakes it off “My dear, I’m glad I could make at least one of your memories with me a fond one, though I would like to leave a few more to make up for the bad ones” he caresses your cheek with the back of his hand, he seemed to like doing that, but it made your brain come to a halt he was really trying so hard to make up for all the shit he’d put you through it warmed your heart. 

You lift yourself up onto the tips of your toes bracing yourself on his shoulders you kiss the corner of his mouth teasingly and whisper “Well, you’re doing a great job so far” and then you turn around like nothing had happened with a sneaky grin on your face like he had done to you earlier when he kissed you in front of everyone. You’re convinced he’d done it to spite Husk the poor feline had been steaming for hours. 

Alastor’s heart pretty much skipped a beat, his stomach did cartwheels, and yet all you had done was kiss the corner of his mouth and whisper that he was doing well yet his entire body had reacted to it. He swallows thickly and squints his eyes at you and he watched you pull out pots and pans and food for the two of you to begin cooking...devious little fox, he thinks in amusement. 

You both eventually finish cooking; you’d made penne pasta in a tomato sauce it smelled wonderful you call the others in and you all sit at the table to eat, you all dig straight it and delighted sounds came from almost everyone, Husk though had been oddly silent, but you didn’t want to pressure him into talking if he didn’t want to. Niffty was talking to Charlie about how good the Ballroom looked and how excited she was for the party. 

Alastor had been side-eyeing you for the entire meal; you had a feeling he was going to make you regret teasing him and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little excited to see how he’d respond. Since the two of you had cooked Angel and Charlie did the dishes together talking quietly. And when everyone decides to leave and retire to their rooms for the night you decide that it would be smart to do the same after all you had a long day ahead tomorrow. 

Alastor stands with you “I’ll walk you, I’m heading to the library anyway” you nod leaving the kitchen everyone else had already gone, “don’t spend too long in there, I don’t need you getting all tired on me on our date” you tease with a smirk he laughs “don’t worry I won’t be in there long, I wouldn’t dream of making myself tired for something so important” he replies confidently you both reach your room and you pause turning your back to the closed door you stare up at Alastor. 

There’s this playful and mischievous look in his eyes as he places a hand under your chin keeping you in place, he ducks down quickly stealing a kiss and this time it’s more confident this morning it had been a simple tentative kiss, but this wasn’t his lips moved slowly and almost curiously against yours, still new to this but definitely learning fast. He was taking your breath away his lips were soft and pliable against yours and when he parts from you again you almost whimper you have to bite your tongue to keep it in. 

His face hovers close to yours; his cheeks were ever so slightly flushed, and his eyes wear heavy-lidded once more, it was an incredibly attractive look, he gives you lips one last peck before whispering in a deep voice that you were sure he had not intended for “Goodnight, darling, pleasant dreams” and with that, he left you flustered outside your room...damn if he was gonna continue to take advantage of the whole kissing thing then...you can’t even finish the thought. 

You enter your room with your fingers at your lips they were tingling and buzzing beneath them you sigh and get changed into pyjamas, hopping into bed you think about the day and cover your face with the duvet. 

_You were in serious trouble of falling for a certain deer demon and you weren’t even completely convinced that, that was a bad thing anymore..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Who knew that you could get chapter's out much faster if you planned them ahead of time? So here's an update I wasn't expecting to get up until tomorrow I hope you enjoy it, I know that this chapter was one of my personal favourites to write! Thanks for reading all comments are grately appreciated and I'll see you with the next one! XD


	21. A Date with Alastor!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re rudely woken by Angel who insists on helping you get ready for your date when Alastor arrives you’re overcome with curiosity...you have a chaperone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📢I've come up with two alternate endings for this fic, how would you guys feel about voting for the one you like best? Baring it in mind that when you vote for one I will NOT be posting the other option at all as the ending you choose will determine whether or not I continue the story into a second fic! Please comment below if you like this idea! Thank you!📢

You had slept deeply and well; you had dreamt about yesterday and you were only a little concerned that two different kisses from one demon had you all in a tizzy. Loud knocking wakes you again and you can’t help but think that you might commit murder until you hear who’s at your door “Toots,  ya ’ better be up, it’s nine o’clock  ya ’ don’t  wanna be late for  yer ’ date, right?!” Angel’s voice cuts through the silence loudly you gasp sitting straight up in shock you look at the time on your clock and see that he’s right.

You rush to unlock your door to answer Angel you look up at the tall arachnid with a panicked face “Angel! You’re a freaking lifesaver now get in here!” You yell grabbing his wrist and yanking him into your room he laughs smugly closing the door behind him “right take a shower, and then I’ll try and do something with your hair and...face.” You pull an unamused expression at his joke before walking into the bathroom and taking a shower like he told you too.

You made sure to scrub your face extra well knowing Angel wouldn't be putting too much make-up on you today you step out of the shower wrapped in a towel and walk out into your room Angel already has your outfit put out onto your bed. He sits you on your vanity stool and starts drying your hair “Okay so a date with Al, the guy is super only fashioned, so I think we should stick to something cute and simple” he mutters, you giggle nervously it’s almost hilarious that he was taking this so seriously and, truthfully, you were grateful that he was. 

He styles your hair into a half-up half-down style before curling the rest of your hair into very loose curls. You were glad he’d left some of your hair down because you had this sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t going to let you wear a coat, no matter how cold it was. He adds a little bit of make-up to your face and does his damn hardest to conceal the crescent shapes under your eyes. You get dressed quickly and Angel hands you a charcoal-coloured scarf you wrap it around your neck and check over your appearance in the mirror.

You looked somewhat decent...thanks to Angel because if he hadn’t woken you then you would have been leaving this hotel in your pyjama’s looking an absolute mess! “Thanks, Angel, I swear you can work miracles!” You exclaim and he leans on one hip, looking smug as shit “I know, toots, I know!” There’s a series of knocks  on your door and you instantly know who it is, you take a deep breath and answer it.

Opening the door, you see Alastor grinning from ear to ear and you can tell he’s excited but also nervous simply by looking at his bowtie, it was slightly ruffled as if he’d been messing with it you let out a quiet laugh and reach up to fix it, he clears his throat in slight embarrassment “Ah, thank you, my dear” he smiles taking one of your hands before you have the chance to lower it he places it to his lips pressing a light kiss on your knuckles “you look lovely, dear, are you ready to go?” He asks quietly you nod and he hooks your arm with his leading you down the corridor, you glance behind you to see Angel trying to sneak out of your room quietly giving you four thumbs up before heading in the opposite direction.

“Are you nervous?” Alastor asks noticing your pensive expression you bite your lower lip and nod “a little” he pats your hand gently “it’s alright, I’m nervous too” he replies you’re shocked, he must mean business you weren’t expecting him to be so honest with you right off the bat when you reach the lobby, you’re surprised to see Vaggie stood by the hotel doors, with her coat on and a lavender coloured scarf wrapped around her neck, she was also wearing similar coloured fingerless gloves.

“Finally, you guys walk so damn slow!” She exclaims with a smirk you pull a confused face and look up at Alastor quirking a single eyebrow in silent question he smiles tenderly at you “I thought it might make you feel better to have someone you trust nearby just in case you changed your mind and wanted to leave, also, and I know this may seem a little dated to you, but it was common when I was alive that there be a chaperone to accompany the woman when she was being courted.” He explains you grin widely.

“Al, it’s not just dated it’s ancient! But it’s really sweet that you thought about it, thank you” you reply leaning your head on his arm. You couldn’t stop smiling it was incredibly lovely that he’d thought about your feelings like that, so much so that he’d provided you with a way out in case you decided you weren’t happy. The three of you leave the hotel chatting away you and Vaggie kept continuously asking him where you were going and all he would say was that he spent a lot of time there.

You arrive at a tall cliff overlooking the ocean, you felt your eyes widen the sea wasn’t a blue colour it was a swamp green and you couldn’t see anything beneath the rocky waves below, behind you was a forest of foreboding looking trees, their branches looked like arms and you felt as if one of them could snatch you up at  any moment, the grass beneath you was a healthy-looking green and thankfully dry the scene was a little creepy but you also found it breathtaking and you understood why he told you to dress warmly, not only was it the middle of winter but the cold air blowing over the sea was making it seem even chillier you shiver and your teeth were chattering like crazy. 

Damn Angel for not letting you wear a coat! Alastor sits down dangling his legs over the edge of the cliff and you join him Vaggie was hanging back within hearing range but not really paying attention as she sat against a tree, texting Charlie. You turn your head to look at Alastor you could tell he was thinking deeply, you knew that you’d both be sharing things about your lives but you had a feeling he was going to share a lot more than you were really ready for. 

He looks down at his hands “I used to come here quite a bit before a met you” he mumbles, lifting his head to look out into the fog in the distance, another cool breeze passes over you and you end up edging closer to him huddling into whatever warmth he had, he noticed you were cold and shakes his head with a smirk, snapping his fingers he summons a blanket and wraps it around your shoulders before wrapping an arm around your waist. “Being here, would calm me for a short time, but ever since meeting you I’ve come here less and less” he adds his eyes land on you waiting to see if you’d understand what he was trying to say.

He offers you a half-smile when your eyebrows pinch together “I suppose I found something else that calms me now” when he finishes, he huffs shaking his head in frustration “and yet I run the risk of losing her because now I have to admit to her exactly what kind of monster I am” he’s no longer smiling instead he looks afraid and haunted. The arm around your waist suddenly felt like it was there to remind him that you hadn’t run off yet “Alastor, I honestly don’t care what you did when you were alive, no matter how bad it is I just don’t care, if you haven’t already noticed none of us are in heaven, and it really doesn’t matter to me.” You reply you know that whatever it was he had to say must be awful, but it didn’t define him.

He hangs his head “It doesn’t matter yet...” he mumbles sadly “Alastor, I’m not choosing between you and Husk based on what you did when you were alive, I’m making my choice based on how you treat me, how much you care so don’t for one second think that whatever you’ve done makes any difference because it doesn’t” his expression doesn’t change and you get an idea “how about I go first?” You offer his eyes shoot to your face searching in disbelief. 

“When I was six years old my family, my mother and father, my three older brothers and I lived in a little farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, Michael and I used to play in the field next to our house we’d sit in our favourite tree for hours. My dad worked two jobs, one which was a fairly standard job at a toxic waste disposal company and the other was extremely illegal he’d been coming into a lot of money because of that particular job and it was making my mother suspicious-” you lower your eyes to the water below, you had to force yourself not to start crying.

Taking a deep yet shaky breath you continue “-She found out what he’d been doing and threatened to go to the police, my mother was the nicest person I knew she’d help people even if they didn’t deserve it, she threatened to take me and my brothers and leave...my father was a selfish man; he wanted my brothers to help him with the job when they got old enough, he shot my mother at point-blank range and guess who had walked in at just the right time to see it happen?” You question sarcastically, your eyes had long since betrayed you and floods of tears were streaming down your cheeks every time you wiped your eyes, they’d flood with more.

“My father forced me to help him bury my mother in our back yard, and then for two whole years he didn’t say a word to me and he didn’t have to, so you see Alastor you don’t have to worry about whatever you’ve done, because in my eyes nothing and no one can be worse than my own father, or even me” you finish resentfully burying your head into your knees and sobbing quietly. You’re suddenly lifted up and sat onto his lap, he holds you to him tightly with one arm still wrapped around your waist another wrapped around your shoulders.

“This is something I’m not fond of, I hate seeing you cry” he whispers he strokes your hair but doesn’t say a word, he knew what it was like to have a father like that but he’d been lucky, his mother had been able to leave, taking him with her. Once you come to a natural stopping point, meaning you literally can’t cry anymore, you peer behind Alastor’s shoulder to see that  Vaggie’s got a pair of headphones on in order to give you both some semblance of privacy you stare up at him and with a pleading look “Please don’t tell anyone about this I haven’t told anyone about it yet and honestly I’m not sure I’m ready” you beg quietly his cheeks turn a light red shade “alright, darling, I swear I shall not breathe a word of this to anyone.”

He in return tells you about himself a little more confidently he’d been a famous radio host which you’d expected he’d also been a serial killer on the side, you found  it very hard not to be fascinated by that as strange at that seemed, he stops in his reminiscing for a minute to eye you warily “There’s something else I should tell you about myself” he says ominously you nod. 

He was impressed that you were so willing to accept everything he told you about himself because it was far more diabolical than what you’d said your father had done he takes a deep breath he just hoped this one wouldn’t scare you away “I was a cannibal when I was alive” he admits in a rush just wishing to get it over with he gazes at your unchanging features for a minute and then you ask a question...a question he hadn’t expected you to ask him “does that taste much different from animal meat?” He quirks an eyebrow in amusement.

Had you really just bypassed what he said and jumped to asking him questions about it “I’m sorry?” He’s not sure if he heard you right, you sit back in his arms to look at him properly “Well, you know how some people eat different types of meat and say it tastes like chicken, is it the same for you?” You ask genuinely curious he smirks “I tell you I’m a cannibal and that’s the first thing you jump to?” He asks bemusedly “I’m genuinely curious!” You exclaim.

He laughs tightening his arms around you, he was very lucky to have you as a soulmate because he had a feeling not everyone would be so accepting of such a confession he hums for a moment in thought “I don’t think comparing people to chickens would be a correct comparison, but maybe cattle might be closer, does that answer your question?” He asks you nod “yes thank you” you reply with a cute little smile, he shakes his head before cupping the back of your head, your hair was so soft between his fingers.

He pulls you in for a kiss, he’d been wanting to give you one since he woke up, to feel your smooth lips against his again. He could hear your heart pounding, your hands gripped his shoulders tightly causing his heart to stutter, he felt like every time his lips touched yours all reason flew from his mind, it made him want to spill out every emotion he felt and place them at your feet for you admire, he wanted to plunge his hand into his chest and wrench his heart from its resting place and offer it to you because if you didn’t want it, then neither did he. 

And when your lips moved expertly against his, his brain went into a complete reboot nothing he’d ever tasted in life or afterlife had ever tasted better than the sweetness of you, it made his hands shake and yet at the same time with you in his arm s felt stronger than ever before, he was able to mimic your movements and  learn from them. When you part for air your eyes  are  still closed and didn’t appear to be opening anytime soon, he admired your flushed features through heavy-lidded eyes, his lips tingled and his head felt heady with the scent of you “You know for a guy that doesn’t like to be touched you sure are kissing me a lot” you whisper, now that he thinks about it, he knows you’ve got a point and he’s not sure why he’s gotten so addicted so quickly but he has.

Though he would stop if you wanted to all you had to do was tell him, he swallowed hard slowly lowering his hand down to rest between your shoulder blades “Is that a bad thing, dear?” He whispers and watches as a blush blooms in your cheeks rushing over them like a tidal wave, a tsunami, as you quickly shake your head “No” when your eyes do open the look you give him has his heart leaping up into his throat “no it’s not a bad thing as all” you add quietly you plant a gentle peck on his lips and it did funny things to his stomach. 

The two of you talk for a while longer staring out at the green ocean but at the wind starts to pick up even more Alastor lifts you up bridal style and slowly stands turning away from the cliff's edge he places you back on your feet gently “We should start heading back, I don’t relish the idea of you catching a cold and you must be starving” he states holding out an arm for you to take which you do. The three of you head back with Vaggie leading the way, she seemed eager to get home and warm up and so were you even though you’d had fun and the view had been stunning.

Alastor holds the door open for you grinning widely he seemed to have enjoyed himself you’re glad that he was no longer looking tense and sure you don’t condone the things he’d done but his life was something you found interesting. Walking into the lobby you sigh in relief it was lovely and warm, you shiver a bit but you’d walked home with the blanket still wrapped around your shoulders so you were far warmer than you had been when you left thanks to Alastor.

Charlie and the others were waiting in the lobby, with Husk stood behind the bar and the others sat on and around the sofa in front of a roaring fire Alastor walks you to them “I’ll make lunch considering how late it is, you sit and warm up, my dear” he says pressing a light kiss to your freezing cold cheek before turning toward the kitchen once he’s disappeared from sight Husk jumps over the bar and sits on the floor with the others he offers you a lazy smile he also looked tired but you smile back. 

You sit with your back to the fireplace on the floor and answer a bombardment of questions, though there were some you outright refused to answer such as what you’d both spoken about because that wasn’t for you to say though you’re sure that Alastor being a serial killer and a cannibal was no secret to the others. And once that’s over with excitement over the party starts to bubble to the surface, and you start slipping into your own thoughts.

Now that you’d gotten to know Husk and Alastor better you knew they’d be expecting you to make a choice any day now and it was only fair, of course, you were fairly sure that you’d made your mind up, truthfully, it had been made up for a while. But you were in two minds, you didn’t want to upset either of them you cared for them both and you knew that there were at least two people in the hotel that wanted you to make a sensible decision but that’s just not how it works!

“Hey!” Husk yells you look up in shock the others were staring at you looking worried their faces bathed in the warm hue of the fire behind you which had done its job and warmed you up. You pull a confused face “What?” You question Angel scoff’s “What? What were  ya ’  thinkin ’ about so hard, babes?” He asks, well I can’t tell you right now Angel! You think rolling your eyes “Nothing important” you reply he huffs “if it’s not that important then maybe  ya ’  wanna focus on what we’re  talkin ’ about!” He exclaims sounding exasperated.

Charlie chuckles “I was just saying that since we’ve finished everything early instead of having the party on New Year’s Day, we’ve moved it to tomorrow night so we can have the countdown!” She exclaims you nod feeling pleasantly surprised “that’s a great idea, I can’t wait” you respond excitedly, you really were excited the only thing you’d have to be careful of is the extermination tomorrow, which is why Charlie wanted to bring the guys with you when you all got your dresses and suits.

Alastor alone would be enough to keep them at bay but he still had to be careful, speaking of, said demon pops his head through the kitchen doors announcing that lunch was ready you walked behind the group still thinking about your conundrum Husk notices that you’re a little quiet and walks by your side “You okay?” He asks gruffly you look up and he offers you a small smile, tired amber eyes boring into you. This decision is just going to suck either way you’re going to hurt someone, you nod “Yeah I’m okay, how are you? You look a little tired” you ask worriedly.’

He huffs “Been thinking about a lot, nothing hugely important right now though” he replies walking up to the table and taking a seat the smell of soup warms you  from the inside out, there was fresh soft bread at the table with a small plate of butter and Alastor had already placed the bowls around the table, tomato soup, it smelled divine you quickly give in to your urge to eat and everyone follows suit talking about tomorrow “If we head out early, we’ll miss most of the ruckus the exterminators will cause” Charlie explains, every time she talked about them she was overcome with this depressed look.

It broke your heart every time you saw it, it gave you more reason to hope that this idea of hers would work, even if she couldn’t rehabilitate everyone like her goal was, even if she could only rehabilitate a few you bet that would make her feel better. Even if only a little. Husk grumbled for a bit about being a packhorse but was overruled instantly when Alastor said it sounded like a great idea.

Those two had still been glaring at each other from across the table, and pretty much anytime they were in each other's line of sight it was getting ridiculous now you sigh “Can you guys stop this, not only is it making everyone at this table uncomfortable but it’s making me feel awful, I already have to risk upsetting one of you and you’re not making it any easier on me” you mutter they had the decency to look sheepish at least before Husk pipes up “I don’t want you to feel bad for whatever decision you make, that’s exactly why it’s your choice, so for what it’s worth if you pick Alastor you and I will still be friends, nothing about that will change.”

Hearing those words made you feel so much lighter “Yes, dear, and if you choose Husker my answer is the same” Alastor replies patting your hand you felt like you could cry from sheer relief. Lunch passes in a much calmer atmosphere after that.

Meanwhile, a few hours ago Vox, Velvet and Val had arrived back at porn productions “Did you see the way he looked at her?” Vox asked slowly Val nods Velvet ran to sit on their sofa complaining that her feet hurt and that she was cold yet pulling her phone out straight away to check how many likes her pictures had gotten on all of her social media platforms. The guys weren’t listening as per usual “Yeah they’re definitely soulmates, and if it weren’t obvious in the way he looked at her then about that little make-out session of theirs!” Val exclaims “I didn’t even know he was into the kind of thing!” He adds.

Vox nods “He wasn’t, it’s crazy what the soulmate can do to a man like him” Val gives him a serious look “so you’re going ahead with this plan of yours then?” He asks feeling slightly wary Vox had been obsessing over this plan for days and it  had started to make him uncomfortable which was saying something considering Vox turned to him with a terrifying and spiteful grin “Oh yeah, definitely!”

Back at the hotel all of you were none the wiser, completely and blissfully unaware of the secret plotting's of others, Charlie had come up with the idea that you should all finally watch movies together so you’d built something akin to a nest in the lobby, blankets and pillows where everywhere and Alastor had even summoned another sofa and an armchair on one sofa was Charlie, Vaggie and Angel.

On the other was Husk and Niffty and in the armchair was Alastor, the armchair was conveniently placed next to the empty side of the other sofa which you immediately occupied after finding even more blankets Niffty was sat the other side of you and you’re sure that if she could wink, she would have but with her having one eye...that’s a little hard to do. You roll your eyes and Charlie picks the first movie and you feel like she’s trying to annoy you when you see the start menu for the twilight saga pop up on the screen of the TV...oh fucking Jesus wept! 

Of course, a movie about a girl stuck between two guys who have feelings for her and she’s  gotta choose sound fucking familiar? Coincidence? I think not! You could have strangled her when she smirked at you but instead you choose to stew in silence, Alastor sat next to you leaned against the arm of his chair propping his elbow up and resting his head on his hand.

He was sat in a more relaxed position one of his legs was crossed at the ankle on his knee, you suppose for him that was slouching, you curl up into a ball and wait for the torture to begin. 

You were already starting to hate this because by the end of the movie Husk and Alastor also seemed to realize what was happening the three of you glanced and each other and their eyes lingered on you a little longer than you would have liked. Vaggie gets up and low and behold she’s putting the fucking second movie on you shrink into your seat and find yourself wishing that the sofa would just swallow you whole.

God these movies were hard to watch, even the others were cringing but they probably wanted you to suffer so they could put up with a little bad acting...assholes, you couldn’t believe that these demons had become some of your closest friends' heck at this point they were practically family! Alastor had been  constantly rubbing his hand over his face and rolling his eyes, which you found comical. You started getting uncomfortable in your position, you shift a bit and leant your head against Alastor’s arm.

He jumps a bit in surprise but calms quickly when he realizes it’s just you, he takes to playing with your hair for a while simply running his hand through the wavy tresses freeing any knots or tangles as gently as possible and for the entire time your stomach just felt fluttery, it never stopped or eased, it never settled, your breathing had quickened and so had your heart, beating rapidly as if you were running some kind of race. It was becoming increasingly obvious to you why you didn’t need to be told, you’d felt this way before. 

This beautiful, fluttery and excited feeling you’d convinced yourself you’d never feel again was stirring up within you it made you fidgety and yet calm, comfortable and yet on edge. You’d missed this feeling but you were also scared to have it again especially in a place as inconsistent as Hell, a place where anything could happen and most of the time those things were bad. Yes, you were worried and you had every right to be, love had been taken from you before and it could very easily happen again.

But the calloused hand running through your hair was enough to stop you from worrying about it right now, you think back to earlier, and your stomach does flips once more as you remember the feel of Alastor’s dangerously sharp, clawed hand at the back of your head, the way his lips had claimed yours once again, the heat that had pooled into your stomach and raised to your heart, the way his cool breath fanned over your face, he had washed over you like a wave of warmth shielding you from that icy breeze making your toes curl. 

Blood was pounding in your ears at the thought it had felt so perfect, and you’d had to bite your tongue to prevent yourself from asking him to do it again even though you had desperately wanted to, you didn’t want to have a full-on make-out session in front of Vaggie, but now it’s all you can think about, kissing him again, feeling his fingers at the nape of your neck, and that’s what you think about for the rest of the night, every movie that was put on every kiss scene that played you imagined what it would be like if that was the two of you, and it’s clear you’ve fallen hard and it hadn’t taken much at all.

When everyone decides that they’re tired they all leave one by one, some of them giving you hug and whispering sheepish apologies most of which you accepted  namely Charlie’s, Angel and Vaggie, however, you had told them to go suck an egg, granted not the best comeback you could have thrown their way but it’s the one you went with, because you’re pretty sure that sticking your tongue out like a five-year-old, which had crossed your mind, wouldn’t have had a great effect if any. 

You stand up stretching your arms up into the air, waking up early yesterday had really put you out of whack your eyes felt heavy and tired and you felt like you could sleep for a week, yet you knew that tomorrow you’d be getting up early again you groan, you didn’t want to get up early. You turn to Alastor with a tired gaze as he was rising up from his seat and brushing himself down “I’m going to bed too, cause Lucifer knows I’m  gonna struggle getting up tomorrow” you mumble tiredly.

He nods offering you his arm “May I walk you?” He asks in such a gentlemanly way you’re caught off guard and yet he’d done this what felt like a thousand times already, maybe it’s because the thought of that kiss was still lingering on the edges of your sleep hazed mind, maybe it’s because this is secretly what every woman wants, or maybe it’s because you simply want to spend more time with him as if the few hours you’d spend with him this morning, simply wasn’t enough.

You take his arm clutching it in the hopes it would give you the strength you needed to get up the lobby stairs and you smile at him, unaware of how it made his heart pound against his ribcage uncomfortably hard, unaware of how much it made him want to taste your lips again, unaware of how hard you were making him fall so hard in fact that he simply couldn’t stop it, he was no longer in control of his own emotions everything you did caused his body to erupt with feelings some of which he had never felt before and others he knew all too well.

The walk to you room felt longer than it usually did neither of you spoke, instead you had stolen little glances at each other, trying to peek discreetly through eyelashes in the hopes that one of you would suddenly become an open book and yet you didn’t. When your bedroom door comes in to view you feel Alastor’s whole body tense next to you, like a spring too tightly wound, from your view looking up at him you could see the muscles under his cheeks flex as he clenched his jaw in thought.

You swallow harshly, your mouth was dry and your throat felt tight you felt that you might not even be capable of speaking he stops outside of your door turning his body to face you he dragged his eyes to your face tracing your features, your bright green eyes, cute button nose, plump kissable lips, soft green skin that  seemed to be burning hot beneath his fingers as he reached up to brush the tips of them along your jaw before cupping your face.

He could feel your heavy breaths and watched as your hands flinched and flexed out of the corner of his eye twitching in obvious restraint. His face lowered to hover mere inches above your own, his nose brushing against yours, he breathed in deeply and was immediately high on your scent, lavender, honey and something that was just simply, purely you “I had a wonderful time today, my dear” He whispered, his stuttered breath breezing over you filling up your senses and awakening every nerve you reached up to fist a hand full of his red coat to steady yourself, your legs felt weak.

“Me too” you mumble in reply, your eyelids were already drooping ready to close any second under the weight of this heavy atmosphere, they flit between his eyes and his lips for a minute and you know his do the same yet in a single breath he whispers a goodnight and leaves you wanting more as he strides down the hallway. He couldn’t let himself give in to every impulse he had to kiss you, or if he did and you did choose Husk over him, he would find it most difficult to stay away. 

You’re left stood agape in the hallway; motherfucker knew exactly what he’d done! Yet, you’re surprised he’d done it, it wasn’t a very Alastor thing to do...and you found yourself drawn to it. What he’d done was enticing, the adrenaline that had coursed through you drained away slowly a dimming ember in a fire that he’d started. Yet you had a feeling that such a fire could get out of control if he had let it burn.

You stumble into your room quickly getting changed into a silk nightgown hoping it would cool your heated skin and you jump into bed, your mind though racing soon calmed enough for you to sink into the deep inky depths of sleep.

_ Little did you know tomorrow night would be a whole different story... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys another early chapter I hope you enjoy this one, yours and Alastor's date appears to have ended well, I wonder what the feature has in store for the two of you? All comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading!


	22. A Fluster Fest!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the day of the New Year’s party Charlie had planned, though now you guess it’s a New Year’s Eve party! You’re excited and nervous can the actions of a certain demon solidify your decision? 

You wake up to your alarm blaring in your ears, you groan, not even opening your eyes you slam your hand on the off button a few times before it eventually turns off, it’s so damn early, you had a feeling that even the sky outside would still be dark. You bury your face into your pillow as much as you wanted an extra five more minutes in bed, you knew yourself far too well, that five more minutes would turn into an hour very quickly. 

Your room was chilly, you just knew it, under your thick duvet it was nice and warm, and you just wanted to burrow into it, even more, the last thing you wanted to do was get up and get dressed. A series of knocks on your door prevent you from slipping back off into sleep you sigh heavily assuming it would be Charlie or Vaggie, you get out of bed and answer the door rubbing your eyes blearily. 

It wasn’t Charlie or Vaggie...dread builds up in your stomach, your eyes traverse the familiar red suit of the demon that had so flustered you last night, it had taken a while to silence your thoughts about him, he hasn’t said a word since you opened the door not even to say, ‘good morning, my dear.’ Your eyes travel up to his face and now you know why he hadn’t spoken a word, **** his face was bright red. 

His eyes weren’t on your face but rather they were tracing your body, drinking in every curve, devouring every bit of bare flesh, you could see him swallow thickly. You glance down at yourself, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except the fact that you’re wearing a nightgown...oh...an evil thought crosses your mind, what a perfect time to exact revenge! Your nightgown stopped about mid-thigh because of your tail, it had a lace trim around the neck and the rest of the material was silky. You wondered why he was acting the way he was, after all. he’d seen you like this before...hell he’d even danced with you like this once. 

It made you wonder whether or not you had an effect on him “Al?” You call out in a low tone, his cheeks flushed even more almost making his face light up, his breathing had picked up a notch getting heavier and when he was able to tear his eyes from your slim figure the desire you saw in them made you tremble, your mind nearly fogged up at the thought of him wanting you in such a way. You struggle to keep your mind clear and focused walking on the tips of your toes, you close the slight distance between you, clinging to his shoulders. 

“Al?” You repeat quietly, you hold his gaze even as you press yourself against him, you could feel heat rolling off of him beneath his clothing, his arm moves instinctively to wrap around your tiny waist securing you in place. You lean up to brush your lips against his lightly, lovely little shocks shoot through you at the sensation, but you pull back slightly when you feel him move with the intention to kiss you “did you need something?” You ask, through heavy-lidded eyes. His are bright, yet unclear, foggy and struggling to focus and you could tell it was getting difficult for him to organize his thoughts. 

He clears his throat before letting out a shaky breath “I came to see if you were awake yet” the arm around your waist had taken to tracing your spine over the cool silk of your nightgown lightly, the tips of his calloused fingers just ghosting over your silk-clad back. His eyes kept darting to your lips, and you knew what he wanted but he wouldn’t be getting it if he could tease you then you’d tease him right back. 

It took all of your control not to arch your back at the feeling not only was it pleasant but it also tickled slightly, you reign in your laboured breath and bite your lip chewing on it “Well, I’m up and-” you run your hand along the hard, cotton-clad planes of his chest and push yourself back from him, forcing the arm around your back to let go out of shock earning you a dropped jaw and a quiet gasp, so quiet in fact that you barely caught it. He even took an unconscious step forward toward you. You make a point of trailing your eyes over his lean form before bringing them back to meet his clouded gaze. 

You bat your eyelashes at him innocently and smirk “-and I need to get dressed, can’t go out looking like this now, can I?” You tease, his expression was picture perfect, a multitude of emotions cause his face to twist up almost like he’d sucked on a particularly sour lemon he opens his mouth to speak but you interrupt him “Are we having breakfast before we go?” You ask curiously, now you act as if nothing had happened, all the while you’re grinning victoriously on the inside, he shakes his head in pure shock “uh yes I think so” he mumbles unsurely. 

You nod “Okay well I’m gonna go get dressed then” you reply his eyes wander over your form again and as if catching himself he turns away averting his eyes “I’m going to...make breakfast, yes! That’s what I’m going to do, right now!” He rushes out before stalking down the hallway leaving you to perform a victory dance, Angel would be so proud! 

Meanwhile, Alastor had turned a corner and had to stop to calm himself, never in all his years had something so flustered him that he was incapable of speaking or even thinking clearly when he’d knocked on your door, he hadn’t been expecting you to answer it in such revealing clothing. Yes, he’d seen you in something similar before but now due to the nature of your new bond with him seeing you in practically nothing set his already fried nerves on fire. 

And then you had to go and make it worse by practically pressing yourself against him, he covers his face with his hand, dear Lucifer the way you had smelled! Your lips granting his own a mere feather-light touch hadn’t been enough, and for the first time in all his years it had crossed his mind to simply lift you into his arms and walk back into your room with you, it would have been so easy. Feeling the curve of your spine beneath your silk nightgown had been far too much for him, it’s the very reason he was taking a breather here in the empty hallway. 

Yes, he’d gotten this ridiculous feeling before but it had only served to annoy him, he was very well aware that he could make it go away but the method to do that had not appealed to him at all and now he was struck with this feeling again. He had to suffer through waiting for it to pass and he’s sure it would if he could simply stop reminiscing about the feeling of you pressed up against him. You had a funny effect on his body and in a matter of minutes, you had him all riled up. When he’s sure the feeling had passed and his heated body had settled, he brushes himself down and makes his way to the kitchen. 

When you’re dressed and ready, feeling slightly giddy at the fact that you had successfully teased Alastor, you head straight down to the lobby no one was there but there was light conversation coming from the kitchen when you open the doors everyone is already sat in there, Alastor’s stood at the stove looking a lot less flustered than he had been earlier you smirk “Morning Everyone!” You yell loudly causing a wave of jumps among the others Charlie responds with a huge grin “Good Morning, someone’s in a good mood!” She exclaims. 

Alastor’s head turns to eye you but it’s tentative as if he’s worried you hadn’t changed at all and you watch on as relief spreads over his features you grin running your tongue over your sharp canine teeth “The best mood!” You squeal in excitement taking a seat at the table Charlie and Vaggie seem almost shocked but they don’t question it. Instead, everyone chats about the plans for the morning as Alastor starts placing dishes on the table when he hands you yours, you tilt your head up to grin at him teasingly because why not? 

You’re sure that you could see his heart stop and for a fraction of a second, he seems to pause unsure of how to respond before he quickly recovers and smiles politely back at you, though you’re sure that in his head he must be a swirling vortex of confusion. You weren’t sure what it was but something about teasing him was fun, you liked seeing him thrown off guard. He takes his seat next to you and you all start eating. 

The food was delicious as always, Husk and Niffty do the dishes while you and the others chat before you all leave the kitchen shrugging on coats and scarves. A coat is draped around your shoulders, it was black and warm, there was little to no fur on it. It was figure-hugging and buttoned up at the front you turned your head to see that it was yet another gift from Alastor, you hoped that this one wouldn’t get ruined because you quite liked it. 

You stare into his red eyes his gaze was intense and something about it made you nervous and fluttery, it was confident; you don’t think he’ll be caught off guard anymore by you today “Thank you” you say breathlessly, he simply nods offering you an arm to take which you do “I know I probably don’t need to say it, but for my own peace of mind please don’t wander off on your own today, it is, after all, going to be far more dangerous outside than usual” there’s this undertone of urgency sewn into his words, you nod, not because you wanted to but because the worry etched into his features possessed you to. 

With that you all leave, the clothes shop was less than a five-minute walk from the hotel so you were relieved that you wouldn’t be out long, the others chatted and Charlie gallivanted ahead leading the way happily, it was so early that the sky was still dark and the air had a biting chill to it, it seemed to nip at your cheeks and nose the whole way there. But once you’re inside the shop you sigh in relief as warmth embraces you, and yet there’s no time to waste on enjoying it. 

Angel pulls you from Alastor’s side and quickly fusses about you pulling off your coat “Wait here, I’m gonna pick out some dresses with the girls, and you’re gonna try them on until you find one that looks good, okay?” He asks though you feel like you don’t really have a choice, you look back to see if Husk or Alastor would save you, but they’ve already disappeared looking at the suits you sigh turning back to Angel “Why me?” You ask his face twists into disbelief “because we’ve already picked out our dresses that’s why!” He huffs before walking away. 

You pout, so you wouldn’t be seeing their dresses until the night of the party then, you shrug turning around you start absentmindedly sifting through dresses on a clothes rack behind you, some of them were pretty, some of them were ugly, one of them was damn well disgusting it was bright orange in a ball-gown style, you feel like anyone wearing that would feel like a peach yet it was enough to cast your mind back to when you had been peeling the wallpaper with Niffty and Alastor knocked you off the ladder. 

Something that had once irritated you seemed to bring a gentle smile to your lips you let a small giggle leave the confines of your mouth before moving swiftly on or trying to before you’re interrupted by a familiar voice that sends shivers up your spine and not in a good way. You turn to see Velvet leaving the back room with the shop owner, a bag in her hand and when she spots you her eyes widen in realization and you just about die inside. You can only hope that she’s alone today. 

She bounds up to you excitedly, though there’s a sprinkling of psycho in there too, you know crazy eyes when you see them and she had some pretty crazy eyes! “Hey! You’re that girl from the Christmas party!” She exclaims looking overjoyed to see you, you can firmly say that the feeling was not and never would be mutual the nicest thought you could have about her was that she was pretty and that was it. You nod timidly, oh Alastor if you could be my knight in shining armour once more, I swear I’ll never tease you again! You think, begging him mentally to come and save you. 

But you’d also take just about anyone who was willing to save you at this point just like last time “I’ve been meaning to text you but I’ve been super busy with Vox and Val lately” she says trailing off lost in thought for a minute, just their names was enough to make you uncomfortable, you just had to be the unluckiest demon ever! When her white eyes dart back to yours, she grins and it’s a damn right terrifying grin “Vox went home so happy that night you know, he said you danced so well, though he had been a little disappointed when Alastor stole you away!” 

_There is a God!_

Oh, to whatever higher power there maybe I do so wish to continue disappointing at least three demons all of which have a name starting with the letter V! And a saviour comes at last Vaggie comes out from behind one of the clothing racks calling your name and when she spots you, she does not look best pleased. She storms over and into Velvet’s line of sight “Excuse her, but she’s a little busy at the moment” Vaggie mutters before pulling you away, her fingers digging into your arm, tight and bruising. 

You peek behind you to see Velvet waving you goodbye “Nice chatting, I hope to see you soon!” She yells before leaving the shop “I fucking hope not!” You mutter under your breath making an exasperated Vaggie laugh yet the both of you don’t breathe another word of this, for the time being, you just wanted to try dresses on and forget that this ever happened. 

You try on multiple dresses, Vaggie picked out a lilac-coloured floor-length dress and although the colour went well with your green skin, your wild coloured hair made it look wrong in every sense of the word. Charlie...you sigh, she had gone for an intense red which usually you wouldn’t mind, but it just looked bright and clashed with your orange hair. Another one in the no column. Niffty had picked a shorter dress, it was sweet looking this time white with grey accents, but the shoulders were puffy and you, well honestly, you hated them. 

Angel pulls out a long black dress, if you wore heels it wouldn’t trail across the floor, it was figure-hugging and was only held up by one shoulder with a sleeve attached, and it sparkled like nothing you’d seen before. But it wasn’t until you tried it on that you realized it had this huge split stopping about mid-thigh on your right leg, the sleeve was on left arm making your right arm bare. The dress looked lovely on but the split seemed a little risqué but judging by the looks on their faces they liked it. 

“Hon, you look great!” Vaggie exclaims for once getting rather excited the others hurry to agree and you just know that it’s boosting Angel’s ego because it was his choice in dress “you guys don’t think it might be a bit...much?” You ask biting your lip nervously they all shake their heads as you assumed, they would. You don’t fail to notice Angel sneaking away from the group, you don’t know what he’s doing or where he’s wandering off to but you’re not going to question it. 

It seemed this would be the dress you’d be wearing, you and the girls hurry up to the counter, after getting changed, to pay for and bag up the dress. Husk and Alastor were stood by the door already sorted and ready to leave. Alastor offers you an arm to take again, “I hope you found a dress you liked, my dear? Though I’m positive you would look lovely in anything” he states confidently catching your eyes he smirks when a familiar dusting of blush coats your cheeks lightly before fading. 

You nod trying not to let him see that you were nervous about him...or literally, anyone one else seeing you in that dress. All of you make your way back to the hotel, the first rays of light were brightening up the red sky, Charlie keeps muttering something about how you’re all lucky that you’ll miss the Angels descending to do their job, it made you curious to see what they looked like but you weren’t exactly eager to get up close and personal with them, you’d been imprinted with fake images of Angels from a young age it was impossible to imagine them as anything but beautiful beings of light and love. 

But apparently, they could also be ruthless and uncaring and somehow that just ruined your previous thoughts on them. You all arrive at the hotel, Husk immediately wanders off upstairs to put his new suit away until tonight, you all had a few hours to relax before the party. You also decide to run your dress up to your room so that it doesn’t crease, on the walk there you can’t help but wonder how tonight might go, Lucifer and Lilith would be coming to celebrate Charlie’s news and the rest of you... 

Well, you don’t know about Angel or Vaggie or Niffty, but speaking for yourself you’d be hoping that the decision you’re about to make isn’t going to be a mistake, you’d already set your mind on speaking with Husk and Alastor tomorrow and getting it over with and as happy are you were with your decision you were still a little nervous. When you reach your room you hang up your dress and pull out the cute black heels you’d worn on your date with Husk and place them under your dress. 

Giving it a final glance over, meaning you nervously eyed the slit for a few minutes, you turn and leave your room. You had nothing to do, everything for the party had been seen to. You guessed you could go to the library for a few hours, you’d been meaning to finish a book you’d started, nodding your head to yourself you skip the whole way there. You’re not surprised to see that Alastor is already sat in there with a book in hand looking calm, you bite the insides of your cheeks to stop yourself from scoffing. 

You try to keep an array of emotions to yourself because it simply wasn’t doing your heart any favours, it was already pounding you’re sure it must sound like you’re about to have a heart attack of some kind, but that’s simply the effect that Alastor had on you and as much as you’d tried you couldn’t change that. _And boy you had tried!_ You wander over to the bookcase and quickly pluck the book you’d been reading from the shelf turning slowly you keep your green eyes trained on the crisp white pages as your tried to find the chapter you’d gotten up to. 

Unaware of the eyes that were zeroing in on you, curious and wanting, Alastor simply couldn’t help it his mind had been wandering to this morning whenever he had a calm moment to himself taking that moment from calm to mildly uncomfortable in a matter of minutes he’s only too glad that you couldn't see his...predicament from this position. He may have a book in his hands but his mind was far from focused on it. 

_How could he focus on it when you had him so rattled?_ And yet, here he was torturing _himself_! He resists the urge to shake his head at how ridiculous this all was as he watches you take the seat opposite him, he loves the cute little expressions you pulled when you were reading, sometimes you’d pout and he thought it might be the undoing of him one day. He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his book once again. 

About an hour and a half passes this way, in silence, neither of you acknowledging one another, simply reading or in Alastor’s case trying to read and failing miserably, he shifts uncomfortably in his seat, it was becoming increasingly clear to him that if he didn’t leave the room, this particularly troublesome problem of his would persist annoyingly and painfully. He needed an excuse to leave and he also needs to leave without your attention being drawn to his problem. 

He checks the time on the grandfather clock behind you it was mid-afternoon now, he was sure that after dinner you’d all be getting ready for the party, so if he excused himself to go and start the cooking it wouldn’t look too strange he clears his throat your attention shifts to him immediately causing him to freeze, oh dear Lucifer! Don’t look at him through your lashes like that he can’t handle it! 

You gaze up at Alastor curiously he looked as though he were getting ready to leave the room “Something wrong, Al?” You ask with a lilt in your tone you watch as his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat, swallowing heavily, before he replies “I’m going to get dinner started, I’m sure we’ll all be wanting to get changed for the party soon, better now than never, dear” he replies quickly, almost like he’s nervous you were sure that if he were capable of sweating he probably would be. 

Your eyebrows pinch together before you simply shake your head brushing it off “Okay, do you want any help?” You ask closing your book assuming he’d agree but he quickly shakes his head “No, no, dear, you keep reading, I’ll handle it for today!” He exclaims before rushing out of the room leaving you in stunned silence, it takes a minute for your brain to process what had happened and when it does you find you face twisting up into a confused expression “well that was weird...” 

You found yourself needing to talk to Angel about what had happened, you stalk down the hallways loudly and with purpose, you don’t even knock on Angel’s door when you get there you just walk in, the effeminate arachnid was led on his bed on his front with his long legs bent at the knee, his feet swinging about in the air without a care, in one set of his arms was Fat Nuggets who was making all kinds of happy noises. 

Angel notices you the minute you walk in, it was hard not to since you’d just barged in without knocking he raises his eyebrows in shock “Just warning ya’, toots, but I could have been doin’ some shit, m’kay?” He says finally recovering from the shock of you walking in without knocking for once, you don’t reply, instead, you simply walk in and close the door behind you before taking a seat on the edge of his bed as if this were your room too. This was something Angel had gotten used to now. 

You take a deep breath and eventually spill everything to Angel about what had been going on with you and Alastor for the past few days in detail all the way up to just recently when he practically sprinted from the library Angel had listened carefully occasionally offering you a sly wink or some praise when either you or Alastor teased each other when you finish spilling your guts out he sits up. 

There’s a huge smirk on his face like he knows something you don’t “It seems like maybe Al just got a little hot under the collar and needed to take a breather nothin’ to be worryin’ ya’ self over!” He explains as much as that makes perfect sense you also feel like he’s keeping something from you. You both chat for a bit before Charlie comes to collect you both for dinner. The three of you walk almost briskly down the hallway feeling famished, you’d eaten so early in the morning that it had been quite the wait since then. 

Upon entering the kitchen a lovely smell wafts over the room, chilli con Carne, you suppress the urge to moan out loud it had been a while since you’d made that for yourself, so you hoped Alastor’s was better than your own. You plop yourself down into a seat at the table and Alastor served you all rather quickly he doesn’t even wait for you all to tuck in like he usually does, he just starts eating without you all, it’s almost like he’s in some kind of hurry...you flash your eyes over to Angel but he’s not looking, in fact, he’s smirking at Alastor as if he knows exactly what’s going on with him. The other’s seemed to notice him acting oddly as well, but unlike Angel, they’re all glancing between each other sharing confused looks. 

But eventually, you all dig in as well...in silence as you regard Alastor who hasn’t spoken a single word since he left the library. You shake your head and turn to Angel “Am I getting changed with you again, Angel?” You ask knowing that the answer was going to be ‘well duh!’ but you thought it would be polite to at least ask. He gives you this incredulous look “Do ya’ really need to ask, babes?” He replies you simply smirk snickering at him as he rolls his eyes with an amused smile. 

You all finish your food, with Alastor finishing his first, he simply snaps his fingers and the bowl disappears, most likely clean and put away, he then excused himself and raced out of the kitchen to get ready for tonight. Vaggie and the others turn to you “He’s acting rather odd isn’t he?” She mumbles completely dumbfounded by his behaviour, you nod your head in agreement. You hoped that you hadn’t upset him somehow. 

You and Niffty clean the rest of the dishes and then you’re practically rushed to your room by an excited Angel “Ya’ know the drill, shower first and then come to my room...and knock first yeah?” He scrambles the words out in a hurry before rushing off to his own room which had been hilarious to watch. You do as you’re told, you’re shower was just lovely as always, you relished the feel of the hot water warming your skin. 

You change again shoving on pyjamas and towel drying your hair, before grabbing your dress and shoes and hurrying on over to Angel’s room. Remembering his warning you knock a few times and wait for his usual response before walking in he takes your dress from you hanging it with a care that rivalled your own before forcing you to sit at the vanity, he blow-dries your hair while blasting music. He styles it by tying half of it up into a bun and then curling the length slightly, sometimes he would run his fingers through the curls to loosen them a bit, making them wavy. 

He then forces the length left down onto one shoulder, when he’s happy with that he does your make-up again but he doesn’t overdo it, it’s light but also obvious, he did a very light smoky eye look which made your green eyes pop, and managed to cover whatever bags you may have under your eyes. This time however he does force you to wear a thin lip gloss, one that doesn’t make your lips feel unbearably sticky. 

Once you’re finished he helps you into your dress and shoes you stand in front of his full-length mirror, which towered over you and admires his handy work and you had to admit you looked good in black. He shocks you by adding a silver heart neckless to your look, the heart settled just below the hollow of your throat between your collar bones. He even gave you a few silver bracelets to wear on your bare arm. 

He then sorts himself out, wearing the wig from the Christmas party but styled into a hair clip, looking a little like a ponytail but not quite. He then added some make-up in hot pink shades and pulls out a floor-length, figure-hugging, hot pink dress. This dress was such a harsh shade of pink you felt like you needed sunglasses just to withstand looking at it. But once he’s ready and looking flamboyantly fabulous you both leave making your way to the ballroom. 

The both of you trying not to trip up the stairs was, honestly, the funniest thing it had the both of your giggling like crazy people, though, Angel did warn you not to ruin your make-up by laughing so hard that you’ll cry. You both reach the Ballroom and suddenly those nerves hit you like a wave again, Angel walks in first not stopping to bother gauging their reactions. All he was bothered about was seeing Al’s expression when he sees you in that dress. 

_You take tentative steps in and when you look up your eyes widen and your breath catches_ _..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awh a complete fluster fest! Poor Alastor doesn't know what to do with himself, I hope you guys like this chapter! As always all comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading! XD


	23. New Year’s Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time to party! Or so Angel says yet you can’t help but wonder what had been wrong with Alastor earlier so much so that you have to take a breather part way through the party, Alastor follows you out noticing that something was worng...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️⚠️⚠️WARNING! Mentions of Masturbation (with very slight detail) at the END of the chapter if you don't wish to read it then, please skip it!!! You have been warned!!⚠️⚠️⚠️

You cast your eyes about the room, Lilith and Lucifer were already here, Lilith was wearing a gold-coloured dress this time, it wasn’t sparkly like her other one, but it was gleaming. Lucifer was wearing the exact same thing he’d worn last time; Charlie was wearing a Champaign-coloured dress with a slight train on the back and no sleeves. Vaggie was wearing a white dress with gold lace trim, Niffty was wearing a light pink, short dress with puffy sleeves and a white waistband, with yellow shoes. 

Husk was wearing an all-black suit, but with a gold tie and a black waistcoat, once again, his shirt was also black. And Alastor...wow...he was also wearing a black suit for once but with a white button-down shirt, a black waistcoat and a black blazer with a red bowtie, his monocle that had been his staple piece since the day you’d met him was missing he looked extremely smart in that suit and for once you weren’t alarmed by overwhelming shades of red. 

Alastor was fiddling with the cuffs of his suit nervously “Alastor I swear if you keep fiddling with your cuffs I’m going to wipe you off the face of hell myself” Lucifer whispers threateningly, he almost scoffs but holds his tongue deciding to simply fold his arms behind his back instead Lucifer huffs next to him, sighing deeply “look, my friend, I know you’re nervous, even if you’re a stubborn bastard and don’t like admitting it, but I’m sure everything will be fine from what you’ve told me I have no doubt she will choose you.” He reassures his friend in the nicest possible way that he could. 

Alastor shakes his head in disbelief but doesn’t say a word, he couldn’t get his hopes up regarding you even if you had been favouring his company lately that meant nothing. Angel enters the room in a very...pink...dress, Alastor shakes his head yet he’d been fully expecting this outcome but when you step in looking nervous his whole mood shifts. There’s a very light blush on your cheeks so light that he’s sure the others won’t even notice it but he did. 

The dress you were wearing was stunning...and then he notices the split going up one side dangerously far up, oh my...He buttons up his blazer jacket thankful that it was just long enough to cover himself, this particular feeling had been a pest to him all day he wasn’t about to let it ruin this party, he took a few deep breaths and dragged his eyes back to look at you. Your hair was mostly down and wavy, you had on a little more make-up than he would have liked but he’d be lying if he didn’t say it suited you, your green eyes looked even more vibrant than usual. 

His nerves only spike further when he watches Lucifer and Lilith approaching you to greet you and he could tell you were nervous too because you froze like a deer caught in headlights...funnily enough. You freeze up instantly the minute Lilith pulls you into a hug “Dear, you look lovely!” She compliments forcing your eyes to widen in shock never in all your afterlife had you expected a compliment from Lilith “oh thank you, and you look absolutely stunning yourself!” You reply, returning the compliment tenfold. 

Lucifer also hugs you, however briefly, which shocks you even more “It’s nice to see you again, we never got to say goodbye after the last party, but then again Alastor had gotten quite drunk hadn’t he?” He teases sending a mischievous look over his shoulder to the demon who was currently making his way over to your small group looking worried and, if anything, a little miffed that Lucifer was cracking jokes about him to you of all demons “Ah my friend you wouldn’t be telling old wives’ tales about me would you?” He asks in a somewhat threatening tone. 

He and Lucifer banter back and forth for a bit it’s funny, you never expect to see Alastor bantering with anyone. Lilith rolls her eyes at them and sends you this look, gesturing toward the makeshift bar at the opposite side of the room from the door you nod accepting her wordless offer to get a drink with her and together the two of you leave Lucifer and Alastor to argue at will. 

“Oh, I’m so glad Charlotte’s plan is finally going ahead, it’s lovely to see my daughter so happy” Lilith dives into conversation with you about Charlie’s plan for the hotel, the very reason you were all celebrating together tonight and yet you couldn’t stop your mind from wandering off to how strangely Alastor had acted earlier. “Dear, I do hope nothing’s bothering you?” Lilith asks though technically it shouldn’t have been a question at all, the curious lilt in her voice made it one. 

It was enough to shake you from your thoughts when you gazed up at her the expression, she gave you was very motherly you take a deep breath and your eyes wander across the room eventually landing on Alastor her eyes follow yours and smirk forms on her lips “Ah, this is about him then is it?” She asks you nod “I’m worried about him, he’s been acting rather odd lately” you confide she looks confused so you have to explain everything to her quietly and when you’re finished her eyes are alight with mirth “oh dear, I don’t think you have anything to be worried about when men need their space they’re bound to act strangely” she replies. 

You turn to look at Alastor with a concerned expression again, but he’s not like other men he’s never been in a relationship and has never felt the need for one the fact that he’s your soulmate and he developed feelings for you without even knowing what they were and why he’d gotten them only confirmed that he wasn’t like normal guys. For heaven’s sake, he’d even gone to his closest friend for advice because he thought there was something wrong with him! What if he was going through another one of those moments? What if he was feeling confused again? Or worse! What if he was having second thoughts about his bond with you? 

You’d grown to enjoy his company...what would you do if he didn’t want to be around you anymore? All of this thinking was giving you a major headache you down the glass of white wine Lilith hands you, much to her amusement, and clutch at the empty glass with shaky hands. But you’re saved by your thoughts as music starts to play it’s upbeat and energetic Angel and the girls are already dancing, though, Vaggie had opted to stay on the side-lines and watch. 

Husk is making his way over to you and for a minute you think he might be coming over to stand and chat, or even just huff about the music but instead he offers you a hand “Dance with me!” He yells over the music your eyes widen in utter horror, this was a fast-paced song, you were in a long dress and high heels, what on earth was he planning? You tentatively take his hand and are immediately whisked away he’s grinning at you as you both dance keeping in pace with the rhythm of the music and it turns out you can dance to fast-paced music in a long dress and heels as long as you have the right dance partner. 

The song ends and the two of you stop laughing loudly and panting heavily as others clapped enthusiastically “I’ve never danced like that before; I’m surprised I didn’t break my ankle or something!” You exclaim with a grin larger than a Cheshire cats. Husk laughs “You danced well though” he replies, you laugh and the two of you talk for a while, you hadn’t expected Husk to be the energetic type when it came to dancing, in fact, you hadn’t taken him for much of a dancer at all “I didn’t know you could dance!” You exclaim and he nods scratching the back of his neck “I don’t always like to, but I will if the music is good” he explains gruffly another song starts up and suddenly Husk is being tugged away kicking and screaming by Angel the ridiculousness of the sight makes you laugh so hard your stomach starts to hurt. 

You search the room and see Vaggie and Charlie waving you over excitedly, you walk over carefully making sure to gather up enough of your dress so that you’re not tripping over it and when you reach them, they offer a teasing round of applause for making it over to them so gracefully. You play along offering a dramatic bow, and they giggle “How are you liking the party?” Charlie asks, your grin was still present even if you had gone back to worrying over Alastor just a little “It’s great, Charlie! Another success, it makes me more excited to meet the guests that’ll be arriving next week.” 

Yes, next week the new guests would be arriving at the hotel you were both excited and nervous, you hoped they’d take everything seriously this meant too much to Charlie and Vaggie you just wanted them to be happy. Charlie nods “Yeah we’re excited too, nervous but excited” you couldn’t help but agree “those were some wicked moves out there, hon” Vaggie jokes teasingly you huff glaring at her playfully “yeah I noticed all the great dance moves you pulled to Vaggie, don’t you worry!” She laughs and the three of you watch as Angel pulls Husk around the room dancing with him. 

Husk couldn’t keep up with Ange’s long-ass legs, they just looked like an awkward, tangled mess of limbs. It had Vaggie nearly rolling on the floor in laughter and surprisingly Niffty had convinced Lucifer to dance with her which looked extra awkward due to the strange height difference, but at least they were making it work. Lilith was giggling on the other side of the room next to Alastor, he looked only somewhat amused at the sight. But when his eyes met yours his stare became intense and serious, almost thoughtful. 

You wonder what he could possibly be thinking so hard about, the music changes into something slow and beautiful, current dance partners change into couples with Lucifer pairing off with Lilith and Charlie dragging Vaggie out to dance with her Husk, Angel and Niffty take a breather all of them gravitating toward you and watching as the two pairs dance gracefully without a care, looking deeply in love and perfectly at peace in the arms of their significant other. You’re so engrossed in your thoughts of the sweet sight in front of you that you don’t notice the group around you had gone quiet until a subtle elbow jab brings you back to your senses. You look up to see Alastor offering you a hand to take which you take; you’re honestly surprised he’d waited this long he pulls you to the centre and the two of you dance slowly. Gracefully spinning in circles, you stare up into his intense red eyes, he hasn’t spoken a single word and a part of you wished he would. 

Because staring up at him like this without speaking was somehow making you worry more you could barely breathe. You felt like you were falling into the depths of his eyes and if he didn’t speak then you wouldn’t be saved, you’d never come back. “You look stunning” those few simple words stole what was left of your shallow breath, there were no pet names that made you swoon and yet you swooned anyway, his voice had come out deeper and quieter, meant only for your ears. You swallow harshly “You look handsome yourself, I quite like the black suit on you” you reply almost boldly thankful for the topic of conversation. 

He clears his throat “You’ll have to thank the effeminate fellow for that” you pull a confused face and he sighs “he said something about matching” you have to bite your cheeks to hold onto a smirk that threatened your lips, yeah, you’ll definitely have to thank Angel you purse your lips together before replying “I’ll keep that in mind.” He’s quiet and for a minute you fear that maybe you’ll revert back to silence. His grip around your waist was tight, you could feel the pads of his fingers digging into your hip slightly, you had a feeling that would bruise a bit. 

You watched as his jaw clenched and unclenched as if he were restraining himself “Are you okay? You’re awfully quiet” you ask hoping he’d talk to you, tell you what was so obviously bothering him. Unaware that everyone had since stopped dancing and talking and had now taken to watching the two of you dancing together, lost in your own bubble as if they didn’t exist. His eyes bore into yours and the conflicted look in them had you even more confused but it’s gone in seconds and he smiles “I’m fine, dear.” 

This was a reply you were quickly starting to hate “You’ve said that before and do you remember what happened?” You ask ambiguously determined to pry the information you needed from his sealed lips whether he was willing to give you it or not. He shakes his head in obvious confusion “You passed on me, I’ve still got bruises on my knees” you mutter “so tell me what’s wrong” you finish hoping that maybe he’d get the hint. But he was as stubborn as ever refusing to give you peace of mind he shakes his head “Dear, I’m fine this isn’t like when I was sick, I’m alright” You huff at his reply irritation was bubbling up within you the song ends and the two of you stop not even listening to the round of applause you receive it was clear to you that he wasn’t going to confide in you. 

You take a deep breath and mutter “I need a drink” before walking away. Is this what you had to look forward to if you chose him? Being forced to wonder whether or not you’d done something to upset him? Him not trusting you enough to talk to you about his problems? How is a relationship supposed to work like that? It can’t! It simply cannot work like that, there needs to be a modicum of trust and he obviously had none! 

You down another glass of wine and place the glass back down onto the table. You jump when you feel hands on you, you turn to see Vaggie and Angel looking questioningly at you, sighing, you shake your head this wasn’t something you wanted to get into at the party, everyone’s supposed to be having fun and you felt like you were bumming them out a bit. You didn’t want to worry anyone but you needed to take a minute to yourself and you couldn’t do that in this room “I’m gonna take a breather in the hallway” you whisper with a small smile. 

“Okay, hon, do you want one of us to come with you?” Vaggie asks, her eyebrows drawn down and worry lines painted her face with mild concern you shake your head “no I’ll be okay, you guys have fun I’ll be back in a bit” You reply before heading in the direction of the door. Leaving the room, you don’t fail to notice that the hallway is actually extremely dim the only light was coming in through the windows on the opposite wall and it was much cooler than the Ballroom. 

You walk down it, standing a little away from the door, you lean against the wall pressing your hands against the wallpaper feeling out air bubbles beneath it and squishing them absentmindedly. You felt nauseated with worry, you just wished he’d talk to you, why was that so hard for him to do? You tilt your head back “Why are you so complicated?” You whisper to yourself. 

Alastor had been stood chatting with Lucifer and Lilith...actually that was wrong, they were talking and he was stood thinking, he was regretting making you worry, it hadn’t been intentional at all but he also hadn’t wanted to talk about this particular problem at all, and least of all in front of company “Alastor” Lucifer catches his attention by quietly and sternly calling his name when he looks at him, he notices that Lucifer is pointing at something. When he turns his head to see what was so important his eyes catch you just as you’re leaving the ballroom. 

Were you leaving? “Oh, is she going to bed already? It’s still early we haven’t even had the countdown yet” Lilith questions curiously he would have answered but he was already leaving the room to find you, you couldn’t leave yet it had barely been an hour. He walks out into the cool hallway and spots you a little further down, leaning up against the wall with your head tilted back against it and your eyes closed. 

He couldn’t help but admire how beautiful you were, he closes the Ballroom door behind him carefully without making a sound but somehow, he knew that you’d already heard him. Just like him, your ears missed nothing “Are you alright?” He asks taking slow and purposeful steps toward you, you don’t even move, you don’t open your eyes, you simply flare your nostrils cutely “I’m fine” you reply sarcastically. 

You gave him the same answer he’d given you; he can’t expect you to open up if he doesn’t do it either, you hear him sigh and he sounds rather close you could even feel his body heat “Listen, I realize I may have upset you but I’m not exactly ready to talk about this problem I’ve been having quite yet, and I definitely do not wish to talk about in a room full of other demons” he explains. Your eyes fly open “Then why didn’t you just say that instead of giving me a bullshit answer!?” You exclaim angrily. 

He was stood directly in front of you, blocking out the light from the window directly opposite you “I didn’t want to worry you, it’s nothing bad, darling, and it certainly isn’t something you’ve done wrong, it’s just something I’m trying to get used to, there’s a lot about things like this that I struggle to come to terms with and sometimes I just need some time to settle and think it over” he explains. You guessed you could understand that. 

“I thought I’d upset you or something” you trail off bowing your head and crossing your arms shyly playing with the bracelets Angel let you borrow. His clawed hand reaches up to grip your chin forcing you to look up at him, his eyes were serious “you have not upset me, I swear” he replies quietly he’s amazed that you could even think such a thing, it’s quiet between the two of you for a bit the air cleared...slightly. Sound catches both of your attention the others in the Ballroom were starting the countdown to midnight when it would officially be the New Year and the extermination would end. 

Neither of you speaks, the others were basically counting down for you, there was this fluttery feeling in your stomach that something was about to happen between the two of you, your breathing had picked up considerably and you don’t fail to notice that his had as well, his hand hadn’t moved from your chin, instead his thumb brushed against your bottom lip making it tingle. When the others hit one you can hear them all yelling ‘happy New Year’ but your attention had been caught by the fireworks that Charlie had rigged to go off outside. 

Bright and bold colours lit up the dark sky the lights flashed through the hallway lighting it up on occasion after every loud bang a new scattering of colour lit up the hallway. You move your eyes back to his holding his intense stare you whisper “Happy New Year, Alastor” he leans forward slightly, his nose brushing yours “Happy New Year, darling” his lips capture yours, and at first the kiss was tentative and gentle, both of you responding with the same energy. It was sweet and warm; your stomach was doing cartwheels. 

You didn’t want this to end, his scent was filling up your senses, he spelt of spices and something that was just him you reach up to fist a handful of his blazer and you’re surprised when it sparks something within him. His hands grip your wrists and pin them to the wall either side of your head, the kiss turning into something more heated and needy, you jump when you feel his tongue run along your bottom lip begging for entrance. 

Your head felt thick with fog, you never imagined that Alastor could be so forward, when you part your lips he doesn’t hesitate to taste you and when his tongue brushes against yours it draws out a deep groan from him, a sound that makes you shiver in delight, you whimper against his lips and his mouth swallows the muffled sound greedily his hands at your wrists tighten and heat pools into your stomach forcing a semblance of clarity and reality on you, you’re in a hallway anyone could see you! Now is so not the time to be getting aroused!!! 

...Although now also wasn’t the time to be making out with Alastor yet here you are... _you regret nothing_ _..._

You wished you could say there was an epic battle for dominance but there wasn’t you caved to him willingly, letting him explore your mouth at will until he was satisfied. When he parts from you, you’re both panting, gasping for air desperately trying to fill your lungs and when his eyes searched yours you were sure you could see even the smallest ounce of lust in them. At least you weren’t the only one, that would be awkward. 

He’s about to lean in again and for the life of you, you want to beg him to hurry up already, his lips brush against yours once more before he suddenly stops his eyes widen. He pulls back from you hurriedly, blushing heavily he starts to brush himself down and for a minute you’re confused but the Ballroom door opens and Charlie pokes her head and looking mildly concerned “Hey we were just wondering if everything’s okay out here?” You nod and turn to Alastor, he’s somehow collected himself, he smiles “We’re fine, dear, we were just sorting some things out” he replies, you bite your lip...yeah, sorting some things out...more like creating problems. 

Charlie gives you both a once over before letting it go and ducking back into the ballroom. You’re left alone with Alastor once again you could feel his eyes on you, you felt like your heart might jump out of your throat and when you look up as him his eyes are half-lidded and dark he wraps an arm around your waist and you’re sure that he purposely glides it across your lower back before settling his hand to rest on your hip causing your breath to hitch “We should go back inside, they’ll start wondering what we’re doing” he pauses his eyes flit between your lips and back to your eyes for a few minutes and he seemed to be contemplating the risks weighing up whether or not it was worth it. 

But he takes a deep breath and guides you to the door opening it for you, the light was almost blinding in comparison to the hallway but you make your way to the others with a bright yet dazed smile wishing them all a ‘Happy New Year’ most them asked if you were okay, of course, and you told them that you were. Every time your mind wandered off to the kiss you felt compelled to cover your stomach, clutching at it as if they could see what was going on inside of you which was crazy. But that didn’t stop you from looking as though you had some stomach bug. 

Vaggie and Charlie kept on asking if you were okay and no matter how many times you told them you were fine, they were having none of it, Alastor eventually finishes chatting with Lucifer and Lilith and notices the crowd around you. He smirks a little at the dazed look on your face but he had to admit he couldn’t clear his head either, he makes his way over to your group listening carefully and nearly laughs when he hears that they think you’re sick. 

He shakes his head “What’s going on?” He asks Charlie looks up at him with wide eyes “I think she might be a little sick, she’s super warm and she keeps clutching at her stomach” she replies. He nods he presses a hand to your forehead pretending to play along but he knew he real reason as to why you were so warm, you were evidently blushing he’s surprised no one had thought of it “Yes, she is a little warm, I’ll walk her to her room so she can get some rest, I’m sure she’ll be fine” he says offering you an arm to take. 

You tell everyone a quick goodnight and he leads you out of the room and toward your own, he can literally feel the tension between the two of you, and he couldn’t deny it any longer that kiss had solidified the feeling you stirred in him, he wasn’t quite sure what to do about this new information. Because he knew that he wanted you, in every way he could possibly think of he wanted you, but you hadn’t made your decision yet and he couldn’t make that known to you until you chose and that’s providing you chose him. 

He stares at your door stunned and also a little disappointed that you’d both gotten there so fast and when you turn to him his thoughts stop short, there’s this determined look in your eye that makes him nervous you turn to him resting your hands on his shoulder his eyes follow your movements curiously before looking back at you. Your eyes heavy-lidded, your lips parted temptingly, your weight on him forces him to grip your hips to steady you. 

_“Kiss me...”_

That mere whisper of want sent sparks off in his stomach, his heart pounded in his ears but he wastes no time in giving you what you asked so sweetly for, his lips claim yours in a burning need and he just knows that he should be careful, mindful of the situation you weren’t his yet, if at all. But your lips parting his and your smooth tongue darting into his mouth wasn’t helping his control at all, because he had wanted you earlier but he wanted to be sure that you wanted him too, another lovely little whimper escapes your lips bringing him back to the present as heat pools into his stomach again, he forces himself to slow down, forcing the kiss to become simple and sweet. The taste of you would be the death of him, he pulls back once more and this time he knows the feeling won’t go away and he would have to leave before you did something you might regret. 

“Get some rest, darling, I’ll see you in the morning” he breathed, lifting his head from yours to watch as you nod, yet your eyes were on his lips and he knew that if he didn’t leave now and this turned out to be some mistake later, he’d hate himself for it. So, he turns and stalks quickly to his room and for the whole walk there this feeling of want never leaves. 

He quickly makes his way into his room turning and locking the door behind him before leaning his back against it. He hoped that the feeling would subside but it was becoming increasingly clear to him that it wouldn’t, stubbornly it persists, he groans rubbing a hand over his face in frustration, this cannot be happening, he thinks. Usually, if this happened it never lasted long, like this morning he was able to wait it out but, of course, he was torturing himself with thoughts of you. 

The way you’d looked pinned up against that wall...he wasn’t an overly sexual man but that had been far too arousing to him so much so that it both startled him and made him want more. Oh, not to mention that sweet, little, delectable sound you made...Damnit! He pants heavily giving in for the first time ever, he rips off his slacks in utter frustration at himself, he couldn’t control his body for once in his afterlife, he makes a quick motion with his hand and shortens his nails before gripping himself firmly. 

This is what you’d drove him too! He had to relieve himself for the first time ever because it was starting to get incredibly painful! Damn you and that beautiful little sound you’d made! He wasn’t proud of this in the least, and yet he knew that he’d be irritable if he didn’t. He didn’t want to risk snapping at you simply because he refused to relieve himself, he slid slowly down the door at the feeling of every pump his hand made the muscles in his abdomen tightening a little every time, having never done this before it caused all thought to halt. 

He could only focus on the quick and jerky movements of his own hand on his hard length and wishing it were you, he knew it would be quite different with another instead of himself but he didn’t care shockwaves of pleasure had him nearly rutting into his own hand, and the thought that brought him to a rather messy release had him blushing like crazy and yet gritting his teeth to ensure no sound escaped him, the thought that he wanted to touch you, he wanted to see your reactions, he wanted to know what you felt like but he also wanted to connect with you, he slumps against the door all energy leaving him. When the muscles in his abdomen eventually relaxed, he snapped his fingers cleaning himself up and dressing himself in clean pyjamas. 

He was embarrassed and a little annoyed with himself for enjoying it so much but he knew that if it had been you instead it would have been a whole different story... _but one he wouldn’t mind_ _trying_ _out_ _..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys, getting a little too hot and heavy for old Alastor am I right!? This is my first time writing this type of content so I'm aware it's not exactly perfect but practice makes perfect! I hope you enjoyed it anyhow, all comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading!! ;)


	24. It’s Decision-Making Time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’ve made up your mind and today is the day, it’s time to tell the guys exactly who you’ve chosen you can only hope it goes over smoothly. You also bond with Alastor a little more, things get a little hot and heavy but with these interruptions are you two ever going to clear the air? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Warning slight NSFW, like really slight, probably doesn't even need the warning as of right now but next chapter deffo will!⚠️

You lay awake staring up at the ceiling last night had been a roller-coaster of emotions it had taken you a long time to fall asleep with everything still playing on your mind, but you’d firmly made up your mind you were determined to speak to both Husk and Alastor today. Your room was cold, and you dreaded the thought of getting up but today was going to be a very important and emotional day you heave out a sigh and swing your legs out from under the duvet they almost immediately froze over in the cool air, you plant your feet onto the worn-out carpet. 

The dress you’d worn last night lay strewn on the floor in a heap and your shoes had been kicked off somewhere underneath your bed you pick up the dress and dig out your shoes putting them away before rushing to take a shower and get dressed. You tie your hair up into a ponytail and dress in comfortable grey sweatpants and a black crop top and then throwing on trainers. You take a deep breath and leave your room to find Husk, you’ve been putting this off long enough you needed to do it now or you’d lose the nerve. 

Of course, you find Husk in the lobby with Angel, Vaggie and Charlie. He’s stood behind the bar quietly drinking and listening to Angel prattle on about this and that you stand at the top of the stair’s, nerves were eating away at you, your heart was palpitating feeling as though it were beating at a hundred miles per minute. You already felt guilty even though you weren’t doing anything wrong you shake your head and clear your throat effectively catching everyone’s attention you look Husk in the eye and offer him a small smile that doesn’t quite reach your eyes “Can I talk to you for a minute?” You ask holding a single hand out to him. 

He glances around the room before leaving the sanctuary of the bar and clambering up the stairs to meet you “Sure, let’s go to my room, it’ll be quiet there” he replies taking your hand and leading the way his room was on the same hallway as Angel’s...no wonder he chooses to sleep in the lobby so often he opens the door to a somewhat messy room, there are clothes and beer bottles strewn everywhere it was evident that he had been in here recently. 

You both sit on the bed in awkward silence and it’s becoming increasingly clear that he had some inclination as to what you were about to say, and yet you didn’t even know where to start Husk lets out a quiet laugh “It’s okay, I know what you’re gonna say you really don’t have to look so glum about it” and when he smiles at you, though there is something melancholy about it, it’s a happy smile like he’s glad the suspense is over. 

You frown “I just can’t help but think I would have felt bad, you know? Not only would I have turned away someone that was apparently supposed to be made for me but what about you?” You ask, he nods in understanding but you’re not done, you’re overcome with this inexplicable need to explain yourself “what if you met your soulmate and they were more compatible to you? Not only would it break my heart, but I’d feel awful if you turned them down and ended up miserable” you trail off hanging your head. 

He wraps an arm around your shoulders pulling you into a half hug, you rest your head in his shoulder and wrap an arm around him as well “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about that too” you nod against him ruffling his fur a little with the motion you both sit in silence for a minute before you decide it’s time to get it over with you sit up and turn to face him, cupping his cheeks in your hands you brush you thumbs against them gently as you hold his gaze “I love you, and I care about you deeply but you’re not mine” you say gently struggling to hold back the tears that threatened to stream from your eyes you plant a kiss on his cheek before getting up and leaving the room. 

You walk for a bit taking in deep gulps of air to settle your fried nerves before setting your shoulders now you had to find Alastor...You search everywhere for this guy and for once you simply cannot find him, he’s not in his room, the Ballroom, the lobby or the kitchen, he’s not with Niffty and nobody’s seen him! You’re on your way to check the library the one place you hadn’t checked yet and there he was...this elusive little...never mind. 

You walk in and make sure to close the door behind you catching his attention immediately and his face turns so red that he can barely look at you, your eyebrows pinch together, and you tilt your head slightly what on earth was he looking so embarrassed about? “Morning, Al” you greet him casually while walking over and taking the seat in front of him. He shifts crossing his legs with one ankle crossing over one knee “Good morning, dear” he replies putting his book down into his lap “Al, we...uh...we need to talk I’ve already spoken with Husk and I’ve made my decision” you somewhat determinedly. 

You watch as an array of emotions flash across his face in rapid succession he looked relieved but also pensive and nervous he leans forward in his seat slightly to show that he’s listening and again words seem to escape you, you’re not used to doing this whole confession crap it was awkward for you. You swallow thickly and ball your hands up into fists on your knees “I-I” you don’t even get to start your thought as Alastor places a comforting hand on your own offering a slight pat “It’s alright, dear, Husker is a lucky man” he says almost glumly yet in a way that he’s accepted your ‘choice.’ 

He stands brushing himself down and for a minute you’re in utter shock, did everyone just assume you’d reject them or was that just the vibe you gave off? As Alastor was about to leave the Library broken and defeated you jump up from you seat in a blind panic and blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind “I love you, you stubborn idiot! So, would you let me finish talking because you’re driving me crazy!” 

_..._ _Oh shit..._

He freezes mid-step, and you slap a hand over your mouth eyes wide with shock at your own words, that was not what you’d planned to say at all...granted you hadn’t really planned what you were going to say in the first place but if you had that wouldn’t have been it! He turns to you slowly and his eyes are even wider than yours, his eyebrows had flown up to join his hairline and his lips were slightly parted. You just wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole right fucking now would be nice! 

“You love me?” He questions in pure shock as if he hadn’t heard you properly you can’t bring yourself to answer him, those were definitely the words that left your lips mere minutes ago but why were they the words that left your lips? “Dear?” It’s almost like every thought that had flown away suddenly descended on you once again you gasp “oh that’s so not what I’d planned on saying, I mean technically I hadn’t planned anything really, but I’d spoken with Husk and he understood and then I looked for you everywhere and-” you’re cut off. 

In the time that spiel had left your mouth Alastor had crossed the room cupped both of your cheeks in his calloused hands and claimed you lips all without you realizing until just now. Your cheeks felt warm and now that you’d had this talk somehow the kiss felt different it felt official it was almost like he’d been holding back before and to some degree, he had been. There was so much emotion behind this kiss, you could feel all the love and care and tenderness he had for you, when you both part the air is somehow calm once more, every word you had wanted to say was rendered un-needed by one kiss. A huge grin nearly splits his face in half and the corners of his eyes crinkle gleefully he pulls you to him hugging you tightly “I don’t think you have any idea how happy you’ve just made me, darling.” 

You were crushed against him, your hands grasping at his back, face practically smushed up against his chest you couldn’t breathe so you could take a pretty good guess as to how happy he was but it also felt like he was trying to smother you to death “can’t...breathe...” you gasp hoarsely he loosens his grip slightly looking sheepish “sorry, darling, are you alright?” He asks sweetly and you laugh “I’m fine” you reply staring up into those red eyes that never failed to make you feel fluttery inside. 

You rest your hands on his shoulders smiling contently before a question pops into your head randomly and thinking nothing of it you ask him “Why were you blushing so hard when I walked in earlier?” His face is suddenly on fire again, his eyes fly wide open and his arms around your waist tighten, the muscles under your hands become tense he clears his throat looking about the room as if someone could jump out at any moment “Uh, that’s because...uhm...well-” He stutters for a moment before looking back down at you his expression suddenly becomes serious. 

He takes a deep breath “This is definitely something I need to talk to you about, but I would much rather talk about it later if that’s alright, dear? Right now, I just want to be with you” he mumbles pressing his lips to your temple sending tingles straight down your spine. You find yourself nodding in agreement “okay” you whisper, you pull back to look into his eyes again he slips a hand under your chin and runs his thumb along your bottom lip painfully slowly, teasing you and as your lips part to speak you hear Angel’s voice coming from down the corridor you huff your eyes darting between Alastor and the library doors. 

He smirks, chuckling quietly “We have all day to spend together, darling, but we mustn’t hide you from your friends I’d really rather they didn’t hunt me to the ends of Hell for keeping all of your attention” he makes an excellent point but that doesn’t stop you from pouting at him your bottom lip jutting out rather cutely in his opinion, he wanted to steal another kiss again but as what rather late into the morning he just knew that your short time alone was going to be interrupted by more than just Angel if they didn’t hurry up and leave soon. He takes your hand in his pulling you close before linking your arm with his and leads you out of the library. 

Angel was stood a little away down the dimly lit hallway and the slight movement of you two leaving the room catches his eye he throws the first set of his arms up into the air and rests his second set on his hips his widening and his jaw-dropping, he’s giving you this incredulous look “There ya’ are I’ve been lookin’ for ya’ everywhere, toots!” He exclaims loudly as if you’d been purposely avoiding him or something to that effect. You struggle to hold in laughter that was threatening to leave your parted lips. 

You felt like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders and you had a feeling that you were finally going to have the restful days that you’d been silently begging for and you couldn’t wait! You smile at him widely showing off pearly white canines “What’s up, Angel?” You ask as you and Alastor continue to approach him at a leisurely pace, he huffs but grins at you nonetheless, leaning on one hip he replies pulling out his pink and white phone “Cherri said she wants to hang out with us again sometime this week before the guests arrive next week, she’s thinking maybe Friday, everybody else has already agreed we’re just waiting for you two now.” 

It doesn’t take much consideration on your part Cherri had been very welcoming and kind to you, so you’d be happy to spend more time with her and her earliest convenience you nod enthusiastically, you’re surprised you don’t have whiplash at this point, “Sounds great!” You reply ecstatically, Alastor simply nods Angels squeals excitedly “Great! I’ll let her know” He starts wandering away distractedly typing up a storm on his phone, poor Cherri’s about to get a fourteen-paragraph long text narrating exactly what happened when everyone said yes. You scoff at the thought Alastor eyes you curiously, you shake your head with a smirk “Even if I could explain it, it wouldn’t make any sense to you.” You mumble before pulling him along down to the lobby. 

Everyone was already in the lobby you get a strange and warbled chorus of congratulations before they started bugging Alastor for breakfast as if they’d been starved, he sighs untangling his arm from yours only to wrap it around your waist instead he leans in to whisper in your ear his breath tickles the sensitives hairs there sending an involuntary shiver down your spine yet again “Join me?” He whispers huskily he hadn’t intended for his voice to come out like that, but it was too late now, and he had to admit it was worth it to see a lovely blush crash over your cheeks like waves on the rocks. 

You swallow thickly, you feel like he could convince you to do anything if he spoke like that you nod wordlessly unable to speak out of pure shock his fingers dug into the soft flesh of your hip slightly, not so much that it was painful but enough for you to be acutely aware of just how far down his hand actually was causing thoughts and feelings from last night to resurface and you have to force yourself to take a break and refocus. He leads you down the stairs and into the kitchen where he finally lets you go so that you can both wash your hands and get started. 

You both decide on something simple like bacon sandwiches, and while you’re getting everything ready and concentrating on what needs to be done Alastor’s getting distracted simply by looking at you every time you glance his way, he’s just staring at you with this love-struck gaze it’s adorable but you could also really use his help “Al, you okay?” You ask trying to shake him from whatever thoughts he was having. His wander up and down your slim body before nodding his head and turning back to the stove you squint your eyes at him sceptically, he’s never done that before, it was enough to make your stomach feel all fluttery. 

You had this nagging feeling that the reason he’d gotten flustered around you this morning had something to do with the events of last night, you bite your lower lip worrying it between your sharp canine you take a few steps toward him and watch while he potters about at the stove “Did you have fun last night?” You ask rather innocently and yet you raise a single eyebrow when his face and neck turn the same shade of red as his hair, he takes a deep, jittery breath and clears his throat again “Pardon?” He replies, his voice cracks slightly and you can just see the pain that slip-up caused him this was new you’d never seen Alastor quite so put out before. 

You laugh “You know at the New Year’s party? Did you have fun?” His body visibly relaxes he blinks a few times “Oh, right, of course, yes I did, did you, dear?” He returns the question, and you nod immediately humming in reply he smiles at you tenderly “good” he mummers it takes you both only a few minutes to have food ready and place on the table and the others join you instantly chatting about Friday and what you might be doing you’d tried your best to focus on the conversation and you’d been doing extremely well that is until Alastor rests his hand on your thigh under the table daringly. 

You’re completely unable to stop the reaction you have to it, your breath hitches, and for some reason, the shock of the action forces you to sit up straight a reaction that doesn’t go unnoticed by a certain moth demon. While Charlie and Angel are chatting and the rest of you are quietly listening, she offers you a questioning expression you have to bluff your way out of it, meanwhile, in your peripheral vision you can see Alastor smirking at you slyly he squeezes your thigh gently and it takes all of your restraint not to slap his hand away, you’re too busy focusing on trying to get your breath under control again. 

While everyone was chatting distractedly you fix Alastor with a stern gaze trying to discreetly tell him to stop what he was doing, but instead, he smirks turning to Charlie “My dear, I hope you don’t mind if we take the day off today, my little fox and I have a lot to talk about if that’s quite alright?” He asks rather politely keeping his hand exactly where it was occasionally and firmly rubbing this thumb over the area she nods with an adorable grin “Oh sure you guys enjoy the day off we’ll see you later!” She replies happily. 

The others barely even notice the pair of you leaving the minute you both enter the lobby you shoot him a frustrated pout “That was mean” you huff out, crossing your arms over your chest but he simply offers you an innocent smile and with his hand over his heart he replies “I have no idea what you’re talking about, darling” that cheeky little...you click your tongue in thought and suddenly your eyes light up...okay Alastor two can play at this game and you had far more experience in it than he did. 

You lick your lips temptingly before smiling “Okay” you wander off without him knowing he would follow you; you could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as you walked all the way back to the library the room was warm and cosy you wander straight in and you start peering at the books on the shelves you don’t turn even when you hear the door click closed. 

You pluck a random book from the shelves with no intention of reading it, you turn to sit at one of the tables instead of the chair he’d provided for you “Darling, that seat can’t possibly be comfortable enough for you” his voice chimes through the near silence the only other sounds being made were the sounds of the crackling fire and the turning of pages you hum as if in thought before turning your head to offer him a coy smile with half-lidded eyes you reply “I think it’s just fine” you watch triumphantly as his face flushes brightly with colour before turning back around to ‘read your book.’ 

You can feel his looming presence when he walks quietly over to stand behind you blocking out whatever light you had and you act as though your ability to ‘read’ hasn’t been affected he leans down whispering gently “You should come and join me, darling, I’ll even read to again if that’s what you want” he instantly turns away taking his seat by the fireplace an evil thought crosses your mind you set your book down and lift yourself from the, admittedly, uncomfortable chair and wander over to where Alastor was sitting you could see him smirking, he lifts his head up and looks at you with mirthful eyes completely unaware of what you had planned. 

He gestures to your seat with one arm “Take a seat, dear” you glance at your seat before turning your eyes back to him you smirk and without hesitation you position yourself to sit on his lap his eyes widen dramatically and as he’s about to speak you silence him with a quick kiss when you pull back, you grin “this seat is far more comfortable, I think I’ll just stay here” you reply cheekily his breaths had become quick and ragged he picks up his nearly forgotten book and starts trying to read but every time you move or shuffle to get comfortable he has to stop to compose himself. 

His cheeks were getting brighter and brighter and seemed to be illuminating, after the fifth sneaky shuffle he huffs throwing the book with a loud thump on to the little table next to his seat before lifting you and repositioning you to straddle his legs one of his arms was wrapped securely around your waist and the other snakes its way into the hair at the nape of your neck his lips claim yours with alarming need his quick and ragged breaths fan over your flushed cheeks as his tongue explores your mouth hungrily and when he parts from your lips leaving you panting for air, he gently tugs the hair at the back of your head forcing you to tilt it back. 

He presses his lips to your pulse point grazing his teeth over the soft skin of your neck “Don’t tease me, darling, I’m afraid it will be my undoing” you grip at his shoulders digging your nails in trying your best to suppress a moan he lightly nips at your skin drawing out a surprised gasp the arm wrapped around your waist moves to rest on your thigh once again this time his thumb resumes massaging your inner thigh arousal courses through you and you squirm in his grasp his tongue flicks gently over the abused area of your neck before he lifts his head to look into your eyes refusing to stop his ministrations on your thigh no matter how much you squirm he holds your gaze with lust-filled eyes casting your face in a sinful red glow. 

You whimper, he groans in response whispering your name before claiming your lips once more you’re unable to focus properly with his hand massaging your thigh and his lips wildly exploring yours. You almost don’t notice his claw-like nail very lightly graze over your clothed thigh it sends a shock throughout your whole body forcing you to unconsciously buck your hips with a wanton moan embarrassingly escaping your captured lips. He freezes in his movements pulling himself from your tempting mouth his ears twitch causing you to tense in utter fear, you listen intently hearing Niffty skipping down the hallway with Charlie and Vaggie they were talking but you couldn’t hear what they were saying. 

The blood had rushed to your head and was beating through your ears clogging up your hearing but apparently, Alastor could hear perfectly his head tilts to one side, listening carefully his eyes squinting resentfully at the closed door his attention was set solely on them, if they were going to enter the room you’re sure he would have moved you both to a less intimate position by now so you decide to take a risk you untie the bow at his neck his head snaps in your direction but his ears were still pivoted toward the door he watches you curiously as you untie his bow and remove it from the collar of his redshirt. 

You unbutton the first three buttons of his shirt and quickly dip your head down to pepper the sensitive skin of his neck with kisses he swallows thickly, and his hand squeezes your thigh out of shock you smirk feeling him tense beneath you “Shh, wouldn’t want to draw attention now would we, _darling_?” You tease throwing his favourite pet name for you back at him you watch as he clenches his jaw in obvious restraint as you suck a particularly sensitive spot on his neck, he practically arches into you, you abuse that spot the same way he’d done to you leaving a gleaming, purple, oval-shaped bruise in your wake. 

You would be lying if you said you weren’t proud and slightly turned on by the sight of him desperately trying to be quiet but apparently Charlie and the others had now passed his eyes that had slipped closed suddenly snap open and the look, he gives you causes your legs to clench around him. He pulls you to him roughly standing from his seat forcing you to wrap your legs around his waist, holding you to him with one arm he snaps his fingers with his free hand and miraculously the door, that doesn’t usually lock, locks. 

He walks carefully over to the table you’d been sat at not moments ago and sits you on top of it the fog in his eyes clears slightly he tuts “You asked me last night, while we were dancing if there was anything wrong with me” he pants slightly out of breath, your curiosity is peaked even if you’re slightly frustrated that he’d stopped this weird teenage make-out session just to talk you nod your head, you remembered him saying that he hadn’t been ready to talk about it he swallows thickly his Adam’s apple bobbing. 

He places a hand flat against your chest pushing you to lay back on the table before dragging that same hand down to rest on the flat planes of your stomach causing you to jolt, his stare down at you in wonder and obvious want, you blush under his merciless gaze “Well, dear-” he pauses to lean over you bracing a single hand on the edge of the table above your head, he was almost face to face with you still stood between your legs, his hand creeping under your baggy t-shirt to sit flush against your heated flesh “-I’ve wanted you since yesterday morning, I want you now, this inexplicable and irritatingly timed feeling persists even when you’re not around, I’ve never wanted anyone this way before” he mummers. 

His hand counts your ribs with feather-light touches edging further up and just as the tips of his fingers brush against your bra a harsh and loud knock shocks the both of you into an upright position the handle shakes sporadically for a few minutes before Niffty’s voice sounds from the other side “Right whoever’s in there needs to come out I need to clean this room!” She yells Alastor throws a glance about the room and huffs before snapping his fingers the both of you appear in a less compromised state and he ‘unlocks’ the door just as you’re getting off of the table. 

Niffty rushes in and when she spots the both of you, she smiles sheepishly “Oh sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt your alone time, but I really do need to clean in here, do you mind?” Alastor shakes his head with his usual smile “not at all, dear, we’ll chat somewhere else” he says in a rush before grabbing your hand and sauntering out of the room with you walking at a fast pace apparently eager to finish what you’d both started and honestly... 

_You_ _were just as eager if not more, after that confession_ _, you wondered just what he was capable of_ _..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know I disappeared for a while on this one got a slight case of writer's block in this chapter so it's a little shorter than the others, but the reader is finally getting some downtime to just simply be without being attacked (which is apparently hard to write for) I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm sorry it's so short thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will be available on Wednesday's or Thursday's constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and encouraged thank you for reading!


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